The Conference of Presidents pledges to strengthen the National Civil Protection System

The Minister for Home Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, took the floor during the conference to present the project to the regional presidents. "We propose a shared programme between the General State Administration, the autonomous communities and the local corporations," he said.

The government has also proposed the creation in the Senate of a stable forum for political debate on the civil protection model as the main mechanism for institutional solidarity in the face of any emergency. "If we deploy an efficient system of institutional solidarity, we will build a better coexistence of citizens," added the Minister for Home Affairs.

The objective of the "Horizon 2035" Plan is, firstly, to reinforce the operational directive, planning and coordination capacity of the central bodies of the National Civil Protection System (SNPC), as well as to increase the coordination of all the system's operators (state, regional and local) in all phases of civil protection.

Another priority, drawn from experiences such as the one in La Palma, is the incorporation of science and the strengthening of links between civil protection and social services and humanitarian action.

The project will enhance the operational capacity of the central bodies of the SNPC, in particular the Directorate General for Civil Protection and Emergencies of the Ministry of the Interior, and will strengthen coordination between the bodies of the General State Administration involved in civil protection actions in any of their phases, the central operational bodies and those of the autonomous communities and cities, with a view to optimising the capacity for anticipation, response, assessment and recovery.

Within this general reinforcement, 'Horizon 2035' will emphasise the improvement of interoperability, which will increase efficiency in the management of available resources, and the international projection of the SNPC in the European, Mediterranean and Latin American environment, which will require developing the capacities for action of autonomous teams that can be integrated into larger devices.

Developing the culture of prevention

Immediately, the project foresees the adoption of initiatives to promote a culture of prevention and self-protection, a great reservoir of Spanish society's capacities to improve safety in the face of emergencies and disasters.

In this sense, the Ministry of Home Affairs will promote the National Civil Protection Council declaring 2022 as the Year of Self-Protection and developing the necessary actions to activate this great potential of Spanish society, which is still unexplored, framing it in the transversal policy of promoting a culture of prevention.

Similarly, in the upcoming weeks the Ministry of Home Affairs will launch, in collaboration with the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), the "Safe Municipality" campaign, aimed at promoting the establishment and improvement of civil protection actions and mechanisms at a municipal level.

In addition, the plan will strengthen the link between the SNPC and social services, which will be incorporated into all civil protection plans in order to ensure an effective response for the whole population, taking into account pre-existing situations of vulnerability.

Non official translation