The Armed Forces will be deployed in Valencia for as long as necessary and without rest

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, together with the Minister for Defence, Margarita Robles, during the meeting of the crisis committee (Pool Moncloa /Borja Puig de la Bellacasa)

At the end of the meeting, the head general of the Military Emergency Unit (GEJUME), Javier Marcos, appeared at the Ministry of Defence to report on the progress of the work carried out by the Armed Forces in the entire area of action, which - as he explained - covers 4,608 square kilometres, approximately 43% of the surface area of the province of Valencia.

The head of the Army's response to the catastrophe wanted to convey "to all Valencians" that "the Armed Forces will be with you for as long as it takes, and we will continue to give our all, for as long as it takes. I ask you to be calm because we will be with everyone relentlessly until the end." In this respect, he also pointed out that "our biggest challenge is to make it possible for people to return to 'business as usual' as soon as possible."

At the start of his speech, General Marcos stated that, ten days after the flood, "much progress has been made, much work has been done," although "much remains to be done." He explained that the 4,608 square kilometres affected are divided into four sectors and that there are soldiers and sailors working in all of them, belonging to the UME, the Royal Guard, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, totalling 8,474 troops. A force whose capabilities have been increased again today with an army engineer headquarters and more navy vessels "to strengthen the search and location of possible missing or dead people on the coast," while the number of diving teams has been multiplied by six. In addition, he added, "the air force is prepared with aircraft at the bases to start relays, so that we always maintain the same number of soldiers in the area."

In terms of the total resources employed, there are now more than 2,000, including specialised intervention vehicles, helicopters, drones and engineering machines - a corps that is carrying out a "unique" deployment. This is in addition to the capabilities provided by a multitude of companies and public and private organisations, whose collaboration is being channelled by the EMU in order to ensure that its performance is as orderly and controlled as possible.

During his intervention, the GEJUME also specified that a total of 72 municipalities are affected and that the army is present in all of them, as well as on the roads that link them. They have already completed almost 600 missions, some of which have lasted for hours and some of which have been open since day one. In addition, 353 projects were carried out in car parks.

Excellent coordination with the Valencian Community and ministries

The head general of the Military Emergency Unit, Javier Marcos, appears at the Ministry of Defense after the meeting of the crisis committee to monitor the effects of the DANA | Pool Moncloa / Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

General Marcos referred to the "excellent coordination of the Armed Forces with the Valencian Autonomous Community and with all the ministries through the crisis committee that meets daily, which has accurate, up-to-the-minute information on what is happening." Also to the "magnificent relationship with the Emergency Technical Directorate; an integration that takes place not only at the management level but also at the executive level, on the ground" and that, as in the rest of the communities, "is a relationship of trust," "solid" and built over years.

As for the towns, he also wanted to defend their actions, pointing out that many of them have been unable to do anything because they were devastated and their computer systems were down or their machinery for dealing with emergencies was locked up in hangars, without being able to access it at first. "We are working hand in hand with them and we are strengthening their structure," he added.

The Armed Forces were ready from the very beginning

He also explained that the "most critical" points are Paiporta, Chiva, Masanasa and Catarroja, although "the picture is not fixed." Specifically, Paiporta is the locality in which the Armed Forces are carrying out the greatest number of actions, with a total of 88 activities. These include water and mud bailing, rescue, evacuation of personnel and food distribution.

Asked about the alleged delay in the action of the Armed Forces, Marcos assured that he would not allow "any soldier or myself to waste a minute in making assessments that are not our responsibility" and reiterated that "the FAA were ready from the first moment as a back-up and complementary and subsidiary capacity" to the Autonomous Community. "The UME was there from the beginning" and "we intervened as soon as possible," he stressed.

"My statements are not against anyone or in favour of anyone. They are a reflection of legality," he said. In this regard, the GEJUME recalled that with level 2, the leadership falls to the region that suffers the emergency and the EMU complements and supplements all the capabilities, logistical, communications, etc."

Non official translation