Bernabé in Pradas, on the day of the DANA: "Please activate the EMU"

ValenciaAll attention was focused on the risk of the Forata reservoir bursting, which led to the possible overflow of the Poio ravine being overlooked. This was the main conclusion of the witness offered this Monday by the Spanish government's delegate in the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabé, before the judge investigating the DANA case. According to sources present at the statement, Bernabé argued that the Generalitat (Catalan government) was being towed throughout the day on October 29th, to the point that it was the State that proposed the intervention of the Military Emergency Unit (UME). "Please activate the UME," Bernabé asked Salomé Pradas, former Minister of Justice and the Interior. In this regard, and previously speaking to the media, he stated that if the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi) had been activated when the red alert was declared (at 7:36 a.m.), "things would have gone differently."

Bernabé's marathon statement, which lasted seven hours due to the numerous private and public accusations filed in the case, generated another major headline: the Valencian president, Carlos Mazón, suffered communication problems. "He called me from an unknown number and told me his phone had broken down and that he had tried to reach the then first vice president [of the Spanish government, Teresa Ribera, who was in Brussels], but hadn't been able to reach him due to problems with his terminal," the same sources explained. Bernabé's lengthy testimony, which appeared as a witness, had the indirect consequence of postponing the statement of the president of the Valencia Provincial Council, Vicent Mompó.

Regarding the intervention of the Military Emergency Unit, the delegate explained that at 12:23 p.m. she offered the UME personnel to the then Minister of Justice and the Interior, Salomé Pradas, given that at that time the towns of Utiel and Requena were already experiencing the first floods. Given the doubts of the leader of the Generalitat (Catalan government), she insisted again at 2:33 p.m. A request that was fulfilled at 2:53 p.m. in another call and officially at 3:41 p.m.

The Spanish government delegate was also asked about the oversight that occurred during the Cecopio meeting regarding the situation of the Poio ravine—whose overflowing caused most of the deaths. He acknowledged that the emergency committee, headed by the Generalitat, ignored the situation of the riverbed, and the entire debate revolved around the critical situation of the Forata reservoir, which regulates the Magro River, which ultimately did not break.

When asked if the Júcar River Basin Authority had alerted them about the flow of the ravine, he stated that they were not notified verbally, but that all the Cecopio agencies automatically received emails, and that during the period between 4:13 PM and 6:42 PM, these emails were not received. Bernabé also stated that at 7:00 PM, he warned Pradas that flooding was already occurring in the Horta Sud region due to the overflowing of the Poio ravine. Specifically, he warned that the situation was critical in Paiporta. In this regard, he added that the former regional minister replied that the same thing was happening in other municipalities. This circumstance would reveal that the Generalitat (Catalan Government) was aware of what was happening. However, the alarm reached the public at 8:11 PM.

The last highlight of the statement was when the delegate explained that the deputy director of Emergencies, Jorge Suárez, did report the alarm calls that were received in the 112 room. This is one of the first contradictions about what happened in the Emer committee, Emilio Argüeso, He stated that Suárez did not inform them of the thousands of calls they received..

Bernabé's witness echoed the criticisms of Popular Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who accused Pedro Sánchez's administration of failing to allocate funds for reconstruction. "In all secondary schools, primary schools, social centers, infrastructure, roads, and social facilities, their contribution has been zero euros," the Galician politician stated. These comments have been countered by the Spanish government, which reported that it has already contributed 5.006 billion of the 16.6 billion announced. Of these, 2.7 billion corresponds to payments from the Insurance Compensation Consortium. The remainder corresponds to the repair of municipal goods and services (1.75 billion), the replacement of water and sanitation networks (0.50 billion), and aid to agricultural and livestock farms (0.44 billion), among others.