Deputies and some of the Lower House workers left the Congress Palace this Wednesday during an emergency drill carried out in the middle of a control session for the Government and which, as the President of Congress, Francina Armengol, has stressed, went "perfectly".
On this occasion, no sirens or public address announcements were activated. It was Armengol herself who announced the start of the drill just after a question directed at the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande Marlaska, shortly after ten in the morning.
The parliamentarians calmly left the hemicycle and, guided by ushers, headed towards the Puerta de los Leones, which only opens in the presence of the Kings or during Open House days, to access the outside, in the Plaza de las Cortes. At the same time, the rest of the building's entrances were opened.
Marlaska, the first to leave the Palace
Minister Marlaska was the first public official to leave the historic 19th-century palace, followed by President Armengol and her first vice-president, the also socialist Alfonso Rodríguez Gómez de Celis.
Both deputies and the institution's staff gathered in the Plaza de las Cortes, most seeking shelter in the shaded areas. At that moment, some activists denouncing the lack of healthcare in prisons took advantage of the gathering to distribute leaflets and present their demands to those who stopped to listen, including the Sumar deputy Francisco Sierra.
After about fifteen minutes, the return to the hemicycle was authorized and the exercise was concluded. "The drill worked perfectly," remarked the President of Congress, who expressed her gratitude for the collaboration shown.
This evacuation drill aims to verify that the protocols function correctly, measure evacuation times, and ensure coordination between the different services and people involved in a potential real emergency scenario.
In the prior communication sent to the deputies, which Europa Press had access to, Congress insisted that, during the drill, they should leave the Congress Palace in an orderly manner, as finally happened, "without going to the deputies' bar".
In that same notice it was indicated that at all times they must follow the instructions of the responsible personnel, identified with orange vests, who have been in charge of directing them towards the Plaza de las Cortes and supervising the correct development of the operation.