In the Valencia region of Spain, Salomé Pradas serves as the regional councilor for Emergencies and Civil Protection, Emilio Argüeso is the secretary of the autonomous community for Safety and Emergencies, and Alberto Martín is the director general. Beyond the spotlight on president Carlos Mazón and his late arrival to the Cecopi meeting after dining with a journalist, along with other controversies linked to councilor Nuria Montes, the harshest criticisms of Valencia’s DANA response have fallen on the Emergency and Civil Protection teams led by Pradas, Argüeso, and Martín. In this tense moment, public pressure is mounting for a remodeling of the Consell, a move that could be announced during Mazón’s upcoming appearance in the Cortes.
Pradas and Argüeso are the principal figures accountable for emergencies management and civil protection, and their perceived inexperience has been exposed since Vox broke with the PP regional governments in mid-July. Their level of involvement in the catastrophe is now questioned, with Pradas largely in the background since Mazón appeared at the Cecopi session on the afternoon of October 29.
Since Thursday of the previous week, Pradas has faced intense scrutiny after telling cameras for À Punt that she was unaware of the mobile alert system designed to warn the population. She said she learned of the mechanism at 8:00 p.m. on the 29th, yet an audio recording shows discussions about alerting residents were already underway at Cecopi by 7:15 p.m. The Generalitat has touted this alert system for more than two years, and a drill was conducted in Orihuela on May 8, 2023, to simulate the potential impact of floods first observed in 2019.
Argüeso, for his part, took over the roles of Secretary of Security and Emergencies and director of the Valencian Agency for Security and Emergency Response in mid-July after Vox severed ties with the regional government. On the 29th, when Aemet had issued a red alert early in the day, he had planned a meeting with the head of Festivities, Fernando Castellano. Castellano and the Valencia Justice director for the region, Begoña Duart, who was also expected at the meeting, signed a responsible declaration stating that the gathering had been canceled. Argüeso’s contribution has been seen as marginal, especially when contrasted with the leading role he once assumed during the Botànic era under José María Ángel. A Ciudadanos veteran, he tried to justify his involvement with a tweet that backfired, stating that he joined the DANA operation on Wednesday the 30th, by which point the regional government had already tallied dozens of deaths.
The third major figure in the ministry is director Alberto Martín, who arrived at the Consell after serving as the chief of the Operational Service and Interventions of the Alicante Provincial Consortium. Hired by Argüeso, Martín’s work has been largely negligible, forcing others who were initially expected to play a smaller role to step forward. This includes Rosa Touris, a captain of the Guardia Civil and the director general of Fire Prevention, who had to assume the role of spokesperson during Cecopi meetings; Jorge Suárez, the deputy director general of Emergencies; and José Miguel Basset, the head of the Valencia province Fire Department, who participated in press conferences and supported Mazón in some public appearances. A final name completes the group in the ministry: Vicente Huet, a bullfighting expert who was appointed director general of Interior on the day of the DANA, a position that had been vacant for three months.
Additionally, the strain on 112 has become evident. From the PSPV’s calls in September to improve the conditions of the emergency call center staff, voices have grown louder for better resources and support during peaks of demand. The unfolding events have intensified scrutiny on the regional leadership’s crisis management and on the structures designed to protect the population in emergencies.