Spain asks the European Union for pumping equipment and experts to take action in the Valencian regions affected by the DANA

The aim of this request is to reinforce the teams already working in the field on high-density sludge removal operations in garages and sewers, road cleaning and water treatment plant recovery.

In addition, the Directorate-General for Civil Protection at the Ministry of Home Affairs, which has activated the UCPM, has asked the European Union to send means for cleaning, recovering and treating waste, such as construction site containers, dump trucks, sweeping vehicles, mini backhoe loaders, motor pump trucks, cranes and platforms.

Spain first mobilised the European emergency response system, the predecessor of today's UCPM, in 2009, when aircraft and forestry brigades were called in to deal with a wave of forest fires.

Subsequently, this European mechanism was mobilised during the COVID-19 pandemic on several occasions to receive shipments of masks and to evacuate Spanish citizens from Mozambique and various South American countries.

Non official translation