Salvador Illa defends renewable energy and announces a new building to coordinate emergencies such as the blackout.

BarcelonaThe government has taken note of what went wrong on the day of the massive blackout and is already rolling up its sleeves to remedy it. At least that's what the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, defended this Tuesday in an appearance before the Parliament to review the outage. The president appeared in the Catalan parliament with a handful of announcements under his arm, as Catalunya Ràdio reported and ARA confirmed: a new comprehensive building for the 112 emergency response service, a plan to ensure essential services have 48 hours of autonomy if they lose power, and measures to strengthen RESCATE.

Illa appeared before the Catalan parliament at his own request, although Junts, Vox, and the CUP had also requested it. While the causes of the outage are still unknown, which the Spanish government is still studying, the Catalan president called for "rigor and prudence" and to avoid hasty conclusions about what caused the power outage. It was a message aimed at containing criticism of the deployment of renewable energy in the State and in Catalonia to the detriment of nuclear energy, as has been done by Foment (Foment) and parties such as the PP and Vox. In fact, Illa has warned that it would be a "serious and technically unfounded" error to point to renewable energy as responsible for the blackout, and has added that the deployment of this type of energy in Catalonia is an essential condition to guarantee its competitiveness and reduce the country's dependence on third countries.

The head of the executive has taken the opportunity to boast about the collaboration, he said, of the Catalan government with the Spanish government and the other administrations on Monday, April 28. Thus, he reproached The eight autonomous communities that asked the State to assume control to shrug off responsibilities, unlike what the Generalitat did. "This government wants maximum self-governance in emergencies and in all other areas. We want self-governance to exercise, not to complain, and when there's a difficulty, to pass the problem on to another administration," he said.

The new Cecat building

The Catalan government has opened two investigation files with Red Eléctrica and Endesa to determine the causes of the blackout, but still expects it will take days to obtain information. In parallel, and according to Isla, the Ministry of the Interior will begin activating the new Cecat 112 building, designed for emergency management throughout the country (and especially in the metropolitan area), integrating all operators. The goal is to have a joint room for the Fire Department, Rural Agents, the SEM (Social Security Service), and the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Police), as well as agents such as the Cybersecurity Agency. In addition, the integration of rooms with operators such as Cercanías (Commuter Rail), the Catalan Water Agency, and energy operators will be studied. Regarding the extension of RESCAT, the Government wants it to reach the members of the executive council—to prevent them from being cut off—and the presidents of the parliamentary groups to maintain contact in case of emergency. The mayors already have it.

Finally, the Government is working to analyze how to guarantee the energy autonomy of health centers, schools, police stations, and senior citizens' homes for at least 48 hours. In a press conference this Tuesday, following the meeting of the executive council, the Government spokesperson and minister, Silvia Paneque, admitted that one of the "concerns" on the day of the blackout was ensuring the proper functioning of these more "sensitive" facilities. The idea is to guarantee that they have an "automatic backup." The cut, for example, left the only CAP that provides 24-hour care in Pallars Sobirà blind, where the local councils are already considering filing a "formal lawsuit" against Salut.