Floods in Tarragona: more than 200 liters, three injured, 450 evacuated and eight train lines affected

The Special Emergency Plan for Floods in Catalonia (INUNCAT) is the civil protection framework of the Generalitat to manage flood risk. It organizes the response in phases (pre-alert, alert, and, when appropriate, emergency), defines the regional and municipal coordination bodies, and sets guidelines for the population and municipalities, both preventively and during the episode of rain and rises.

Phases and activation levels

Based on official notes from the Generalitat's Civil Protection and the Ombudswoman, a common operational structure is observed:

• Pre-alert phase: used when there is a forecast of showers or rises that could cause incidents, but without widespread imminent risk. In this phase, INUNCAT remains "in pre-alert phase" while closely monitoring forecasts from the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (SMC) and warnings from the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) or hydrographic confederations. It serves to reinforce surveillance, inform municipalities, and prepare resources.
• Alert phase: the one most frequently mentioned in Government notes. It is activated when Meteocat warnings indicate that thresholds such as 20 or 40 l/m² in 30 minutes, or accumulations of more than 100 l/m² in 24 hours, may be exceeded, or when flash floods are expected in rivers and ravines. The declaration of the INUNCAT alert phase already implies the application of preventive safety measures and more intense coordination with municipalities.
• Episode closure: once the most intense precipitation passes and flows return to normal, Civil Protection "deactivates the INUNCAT Plan alert" and, if applicable, keeps it in pre-alert for a few days until confirming that there will be no new rises.

Coordination bodies

The plan distinguishes regional and local organization:

• Civil Protection of the Generalitat (Department of Interior and Public Security) is the authority that proposes and executes the activation of INUNCAT in its different phases, based on warnings from the SMC, ACA, and hydrographic confederations.
• The Operational Coordination Center of Catalonia (CECAT) acts as the technical monitoring and coordination center. From there, the "technical committee" for monitoring the DANA or rain episode is convened, where officials from Interior, other departments, and operational services participate. In these meetings, updated forecasts are assessed and additional measures are agreed upon (mobility restrictions, specific warnings, etc.).
• At the local level, flood emergencies are managed through municipal civil protection plans, integrated into the Municipal Civil Protection Single Document (DUPROCIM). According to the Ombudswoman, this document is mandatory in 521 municipalities with medium, high, or very high flood risk, and it is the instrument that specifies the application of INUNCAT at the municipal level.

Protocols for the population

Government notes on the activation of the INUNCAT alert phase repeatedly include recommendations to the public, which are part of the plan's operational procedure:

• Always check the weather forecast and road conditions through official channels (@meteocat, @emergenciescat, Catalan Traffic Service).
• Do not cross or park in streams, torrents, ravines, underpasses, or other flood-prone areas, whether on foot or by vehicle.
• In case of heavy rain, seek shelter in buildings, close doors and windows well, and avoid staying in basements or flood-prone ground floors.
• If driving, reduce speed, increase safety distance, and follow Traffic information about closures or impacts.
• In any risk situation, call 112 and follow the instructions of emergency services.

Obligations and actions of municipalities

INUNCAT relies on municipalities as the first line of flood management:

• Municipalities with flood risk are required to have a valid DUPROCIM that includes flood risk and contemplates coordination with INUNCAT. The Ombudswoman highlights that many municipalities still do not have it approved or have it expired, which is considered a deficit to be corrected.
• When the INUNCAT alert is activated, CECAT and Civil Protection address potentially affected municipalities to mobilize their local resources: local police, municipal brigades, social services, etc., according to their municipal plan.
• Municipal plans must foresee how to inform the population (notices, loudspeakers, networks, website), what risk zones exist, which roads can be closed, which buildings serve as shelters, and how to organize post-incident care for affected people.

In summary, INUNCAT establishes a stepped system of pre-alert and alert based on hydrometeorological forecasts, centralizes technical command in CECAT and Civil Protection of the Generalitat, and deploys a network of municipal plans (DUPROCIM) to ensure that, in each risk municipality, there are clear protocols for prevention, population warning, and operational response to floods.

The Generalitat of Catalonia has broad competencies in civil protection within the National Civil Protection System, with normative, planning, operational direction, and coordination capacity in most emergencies occurring in its territory. These competencies are always exercised within the framework set by Law 17/2015, of the National Civil Protection System, the Statute of Autonomy, and specific Catalan regulations (especially Law 4/1997 on civil protection of Catalonia and its regulatory development).

1. Basic competency framework

Law 17/2015 configures civil protection as a public service integrated into public security policy, whose objective is to protect people and property against emergencies and disasters. It establishes a National Civil Protection System that coordinates policies of the State, autonomous communities, and local entities, and creates the National Civil Protection Council as a cooperation body where all administrations participate.

In the Catalan scope, Law 4/1997, on civil protection of Catalonia, is the general regulation that designs the overall civil protection structure in Catalonia. It is based on the Constitutional Court doctrine that integrates civil protection into "public security," an area in which the Generalitat has relevant competencies (own police, coordination of local police, etc.). The 2006 Statute (for example, art. 132 cited in the preamble of Decree 30/2015) reaffirms that the Generalitat holds exclusive competence in civil protection, which includes:

• Regulation, planning, and execution of measures related to emergencies and civil security.
• Direction and coordination of civil protection services, including firefighters and other emergency services.
• All this respecting state competencies in public security and the powers of local governments.

2. Own functions of the Generalitat in civil protection

Based on Law 4/1997 and its development, the main functions of the Generalitat are:

• General planning: to develop the Civil Protection Plan of Catalonia (PROCICAT), which integrates various territorial and special plans, foresees the risks the country may face, catalogs human and material resources, and sets protocols for action and recovery of normality (art. 16 of Law 4/1997).
• Territorial and municipal plans: to define planning levels (Catalonia, supra-municipal, and municipal) and require certain municipalities (e.g., over 20,000 inhabitants or with special risk) to develop basic municipal emergency plans, homologated by the Generalitat (art. 17 of Law 4/1997).
• Self-protection plans: to impose and regulate the obligation of self-protection plans for activities and centers with relevant risk, through Decree 30/2015. The Directorate General of Civil Protection and the Civil Protection Commission of Catalonia homologate, control, and evaluate these plans.
• Direction and command of emergencies of regional scope: determination of activation levels, command structure (plan director, emergency committee, intervention groups, order, health, logistics…), and assignment/mobilization of resources, with preference for publicly owned ones (arts. 18 et seq. of Law 4/1997).
• Sanctioning regime in civil protection within its competencies (Chapter VI of Law 4/1997 and subsequent developments).

3. Internal coordination bodies in Catalonia

Decree 291/1999 approves the Regulation of the Civil Protection Commission of Catalonia, the highest collegiate body in the matter. Its functions include:

• Informing and proposing the civil protection plans of the Generalitat before their approval.
• Homologating municipal and supra-municipal plans, as well as self-protection plans.
• Coordinating actions of bodies related to civil protection, and evaluating the functioning of plans and responses after relevant emergencies.

At the local level, Catalan regulations foresee municipal civil protection commissions, which homologate certain self-protection plans of local interest and participate in coordination with the Generalitat.

4. Coordination with the State and other administrations

Law 17/2015 requires a inter-administrative cooperation scheme between the State, autonomous communities, and local entities. This cooperation is articulated on several levels:

• National Civil Protection Council: a multilateral forum in which the Generalitat participates along with other autonomous communities and the General State Administration to coordinate policies, basic planning, guidelines, and national strategies.
• State and regional plans: Catalan planning (PROCICAT, special and territorial plans) must be compatible and integrable with state plans and with the Basic Civil Protection Standard (Royal Decree 524/2023) and other guidelines. Catalan plans explicitly foresee their coordination relationship with higher and lower rank plans.
• Emergencies of national interest: when, according to Law 17/2015, an emergency is declared of "national interest", the State assumes political direction and superior coordination, but does so integrating regional and local services. Law 4/1997 expressly excludes these emergencies from its scope, recognizing state competence.
• Daily operational coordination: through the participation of representatives of the General State Administration in the Civil Protection Commission of Catalonia, the intervention of the Government Delegation and state bodies when appropriate, and the interconnection of coordination centers (112, operational coordination centers, advanced command centers).
• Catalan local entities: through the requirement and homologation of municipal plans, municipal civil protection commissions, participation of local representatives in the Civil Protection Commission of Catalonia and in emergency committees when a plan affecting their territory is activated.

Overall, the Generalitat exercises an ordinary direction function of civil protection in Catalonia, articulating a network of plans, bodies, and regional and local services, which connects to the National Civil Protection System when the magnitude or nature of the incident so requires.

The decision to order a preventive evacuation due to flood risk in a campsite or nightclub is not based on a single parameter (such as "x meters of water" or "y meters from the river"), but on a global risk assessment carried out within civil protection plans and the self-protection plans of the establishment itself.

1. Regulatory framework and who decides

At the state level, Law 17/2015, of the National Civil Protection System, the Basic Civil Protection Standard, and the Basic Guideline on Flood Risk require the existence of territorial plans and special flood plans. On this basis:

• Each autonomous community has a special flood plan and many municipalities have specific municipal plans.
• Campsites and public venues must have self-protection plans, homologated by civil protection, where how and when to evacuate is defined.
• The competent civil protection authority (direction of the regional or municipal plan, usually the interior department/service or the mayor) is who can order mandatory evacuation, executed by Local Police, Civil Guard, Mossos, Ertzaintza, firefighters, etc.

In some territories, specific progress has been made regarding campsites in flood zones. For example, in Catalonia, a decree law on campsites at flood risk creates technical commissions that evaluate their viability and can propose precautionary measures, including preventive evacuation, when relevant risk is detected (according to official notes from the Generalitat in 2025).

2. Common technical criteria to activate evacuation

Flood and self-protection plans are not published as simple lists of "if X happens, evacuate," but from civil protection practice and consulted documents, recurring criteria can be extracted:

• Official hydrometeorological alerts: orange or red warnings from AEMET or regional bodies for torrential rains or rapid rises usually activate pre-emergency or emergency phases of plans (INUNCAM, INUNBAL, regional flood plans). When it is forecasted that flow or rain thresholds will be exceeded, the transition is made from reinforced surveillance to population protection measures, including evacuation.
• Location in flood zone: facilities located in preferential flow zones, riverbanks or flood ravines, mountain ravines, hollows, basements, or underground environments are considered highly vulnerable. After episodes like Biescas, the requirement for safety studies of the location has been reinforced and, if it is not possible to guarantee it, early evacuation is prioritized.
• Actual evolution of the watercourse: river and ravine levels measured by hydrographic confederations and regional services. When flow approaches or exceeds reference levels set in plans, and it is forecasted to continue rising, evacuation tends to be ordered before water reaches occupied areas or cuts access.
• Access and exit routes: if there is a risk that access roads become flooded, muddy, or cut off (very common in narrow valleys or slopes), evacuation is ordered before losing those safe routes.
• Occupancy and type of users: high occupancy (high season in campsites or full nightclubs), presence of minors, elderly or people with reduced mobility, or people unfamiliar with the area reinforces the advisability of early evacuation.
• Time: in night venues and campsites at night, emergency management is more complex (people sleeping, alcohol consumption, low visibility). Therefore, with forecast of very intense episodes at night, prior evacuation or temporary closure is prioritized.
• Soil saturation state and antecedents: soils already soaked by previous episodes, nearby dams or reservoirs at high levels, or landslide warnings increase risk and may justify broad preventive evacuations.

3. Responsibilities of campsite/nightclub and authorities

• Owner of the campsite or nightclub: must have a self-protection plan, warning systems (loudspeakers, signage), trained staff, and safe zones or defined routes. Faced with a risk scenario communicated by civil protection, they are obliged to activate their plan, including internal evacuation or closure of the venue.
• Civil Protection and administrations: issue warnings (including the ES-Alert system), activate phases of flood plans, define whether to confine (upper floors, safe interior zones) or evacuate, and, if necessary, issue mandatory evacuation orders.
• Security forces and firefighters: execute evacuation on the ground, assist in transferring vulnerable people, and control access and returns, which are only authorized when technical services certify that the risk has subsided.

In summary, the preventive evacuation of a campsite or nightclub due to flood risk is adopted when the combination of weather forecast, site exposure, actual water evolution, and evacuation conditions advises removing people before the situation becomes critical. There is no "magic number," but a principle of prudence reinforced by lessons from previous disasters and reflected in official civil protection plans and the self-protection plans of each facility.