The Minister of Emergencies and Interior, Juan Carlos Valderrama, has defended that the device deployed against the fires that have struck this summer in the province of Castellón has operated under a single command, with "permanent coordination" between administrations, decisions "based on technical criteria," and with the absolute priority of safeguarding the integrity of people and the protection of property.
This was stated in his appearance this Friday before the Permanent Deputation of Les Corts, requested by himself and supported by all parliamentary groups. Valderrama, who was wearing a vest from the Generalitat, attended the hemicycle directly from the Advanced Command Post (PMA) of the Segorbe fire (Castellón), declared this Thursday, and was scheduled to return there after the session, according to sources from his department.
In relation to the fire in Vall d'Uixó, he emphasized that from "the very first moment" all "foreseen mechanisms" were activated and explained that the management was structured through a "permanent direction," with up to 14 meetings of the Cecopi to coordinate resources and make decisions. "The priority was to protect the population," he reiterated, for which the ES-Alert system was used 17 times in order to order the confinement of different municipalities.
During the initial stages of the fire, he pointed out, the fire was "beyond extinguishing capacity" and was favored by "particularly adverse" weather conditions, which forced the evacuation of about 15,000 people and the confinement of more than 37,000 residents.
The device reached up to 450 personnel per shift: 235 from the Valencian Community, 85 from the Military Emergency Unit (UME), and 69 members of the Civil Guard, Red Cross, and other organizations. Up to 24 aircraft from the Generalitat, the State, and other autonomous communities were mobilized. As for the forest firefighters, a total of 1,297 personnel were accumulated; the daily maximum was 267 on the 28th, and on the days of "maximum complexity," more than 216 were maintained each day.
Horizontal procedure and evolution of the fire
Valderrama has highlighted the activation of the "horizontal" action procedure to coordinate the six SPEIS and the forest firefighters, "a change in the way of facing major emergencies": "La Vall d'Uixó was the first real emergency in which it was activated, a historic fact."
The favorable evolution of the fire, he reported, allowed for a "progressive de-escalation" to begin on July 30. On July 31, its stabilization was communicated, with an affected area of 9,568 hectares and a perimeter of 89.35 kilometers.
The councilor emphasized that the resources intervened "in an integrated manner, regardless of the originating administration, under a common strategy and a single operational direction." In his opinion, this is "one of the great lessons": "La Vall d'Uixó tested our ability to sustain a large-scale response for days."
In parallel, regarding the forest fires in Serra Engalceran, Tírig, Culla, and La Salzadella, which started "practically simultaneously," Valderrama stressed that they forced the declaration of situation 2 of the PEIF and the launch of an ES-Alert to confine the population. "Several fires, several scenarios, and putting resources where they were most needed," he highlighted.
He also detailed that the operation "was continuously sized according to the evolution of the different hotspots" and emphasized the "operational capacity" demonstrated to "know where to place each resource, when to reinforce it, and when to redistribute it." In the case of the forest firefighters, the device totaled 415 accumulated personnel during the active phase, with a daily average of 103.
Campaign balance and management model
In this context, he specified that, as of August 14, the Comunitat Valenciana has faced 224 forest fires this year, of which 21% have been recorded in the province of Castellón. The total affected area amounts to 9,509.55 hectares.
Valderrama has emphasized that managing an emergency "is not only mobilizing resources," but also "directing, coordinating, deciding, anticipating, and assuming the responsibility of being present when the situation demands it," and defended that La Vall d'Uixó, Tírig, Serra d'En Galceran, Culla, and La Salzadella "tested the model that the Consell has been consolidating in recent years." "Today we can say, with humility, that it responded," he asserted.
It has bet on deepening the "transformation" from "the capacity of each administration towards a true system capable of acting jointly, from a coordination based solely on the exchange of information to one capable of generating operational response and reacting to emergencies to being prepared to face them."
The head of Emergencies has warned that civil protection, security, and emergency management "cannot be subjected to partisan logic" because "they are not the property of any government" and has claimed that the Consell has launched "the largest budgetary bet in its history" for forest firefighters, with 79.14 million.
Criticism from the opposition and response from the councilor
In the turn of the groups, José Mª Llanos (Vox) has warned that climate change "cannot be the excuse" to justify "decades of abandonment" of the mountains, has argued that solutions "do not involve prohibitions" and has demanded prevention "all year round." He has accused the Botànic of "abandoning" the mountains and the firefighters, has denounced that it has gone "from 'Ximoanuncios' to 'Sáncheztimos'," has announced that he will monitor that the current budget "is executed in its entirety" and has reproached Valderrama for a lack of "direct and continuous" information about the fire in the Vall d'Uixó.
For his part, José Muñoz (PSPV) has demanded the resignation of the councilor, to whom he has asked if he believes in climate change due to his agreements with Vox --"how are we going to combat what is denied?"--, has questioned the sending of personnel to Madrid when the fire in the Vall d'Uixó was already active, has criticized the low budget execution and has denounced that, in the fires of Tírig and Catí, of the 18 firefighting units "eight were inoperative and the remaining 10, incomplete."
Likewise, Paula Espinosa (Compromís) has maintained that the management of the Consell "always responds to the same pattern: prior warnings, inaction, and improvisation," has condemned the "10% cut" in the fire prevention budget by the "deniers" of Vox, while the allocations for bulls are increased, and has lamented the "precariousness" of the forest firefighters.
In his reply, Valderrama has claimed the exercise of "active listening" and has reproached the PSPV and Compromís for having "responded the same" as always, something he has even described as "admirable." He has thanked the "contributions" of Vox, has assured that he shares "many of them," and has promised that the lack of information "will not happen again," while rejecting the "slogans and sterile criticisms" of the left and has denied that there are cuts in the budget, despite the "narrative."
Furthermore, he has responded to the PSPV that, applying "their own logic," the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, would be "the biggest climate denier in Europe" because of the pollution from the Falcon, has accused the socialists of "turning a photograph into the complete movie" with their criticisms of the situation of the forest firefighters, and has labeled it as "regrettable" that the sending of resources to Madrid is questioned: "The Comunitat was not left unprotected at any time." Muñoz has replied to him that, if Sánchez is a climate denier, then he would be the Vox deputy José Mª Figaredo.