The Government of Spain decrees three days of official mourning due to the consequences of the DANA

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The First Vice-President and Minister for Treasury, María Jesús Montero, the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, and the Second Vice-President and Minister for Work and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, during the committee meeting (Pool Moncloa/José Manuel Álvarez)

The Government has decreed three days of official mourning throughout Spain in the aftermath of the storm that has affected the southeast and other parts of the country and has caused the death of at least 70 people. The mourning, which will begin tonight at 00:00 hours and will last until 2 November, will be published tomorrow in the Official State Gazette. This is what the head of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez, has conveyed to King Felipe VI, and to the presidents of the Valencian Community and Castilla-La Mancha, Carlos Mazón and Emiliano García-Page, respectively.

The Minister for Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, made this announcement at a press conference at Moncloa Palace, following the meeting of the crisis committee for monitoring the effects of the DANA, chaired by Pedro Sánchez. Torres also announced that the president of the Government of Spain will travel to Valencia tomorrow to visit the affected areas.

After expressing the committee's "grief" and "sorrow" for the victims, Torres said that the "declaration of an area highly affected by the natural phenomenon" will be approved in the "next" Council of Ministers and that "all aid will be provided by the Government of Spain, including that offered by the European Union." In addition to the "extremely high levels of personal damage" caused by the storm, there are also very high levels of material damage, and those affected-if conditions allow-"can already activate" the request for aid from the sub-delegations or government delegations, the minister explained.

The minister said that "every effort" is being made to collaborate with the Valencian Government and also with the other autonomous governments affected. And in relation to the Valencian Community, the most affected, he explained that level two is active, with "all available resources" being mobilised by the Government of Spain. Among the information he provided, he mentioned that there are 1,116 members of the Military Emergency Unit, 344 vehicles, as well as aerial resources, 200 members of the Army, 750 members of the Guardia Civil, 100 from the Policia Nacional, in addition to local and regional police officers, civil protection officers and numerous volunteers.

Call for responsibility

During his appearance, Torres gave an account of the situation of the main infrastructures and means of transport affected by the DANA, especially in the Valencian Community, and explained that there are still towns in which there are difficulties in accessing from the Júcar or Torrent areas. For this reason, he called for "individual and collective responsibility" and to respect the rules and orders issued by Civil Protection and other bodies and institutions in order to avoid greater damage.

In this sense, he recalled that the DANA "still persists" and asked the population of the areas towards which the storms are moving to "stay in their homes."

Finally, the minister said that a new meeting of the Crisis Committee will take place tomorrow afternoon.

Non official translation