The Government delegate in the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana, and the General Director of Civil Protection and Emergencies of the Ministry of the Interior, Virginia Barcones, have today presided over the act of imposing Medals to the Merit of Civil Protection in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, accompanied by the subdelegates of the Government in Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Teresa Mayans and Javier Plata, respectively.
At the event, held in the Throne Room of the Government Delegation in the presence of civil and military authorities, ten medals, awarded by the Ministry of the Interior, have been given to many other people and groups involved in emergencies for their commitment to civil protection and social exemplification and effectiveness in their work.
“In recent years, forest fires and adverse weather events have created serious danger situations for the population. Also the arrival of migrants to our coasts exposing their lives seriously, and also that of the people, professionals and volunteers who come to their rescue and humanitarian attention,” said the government delegate in the Canary Islands.
“Actions of great merit in which, those present here and so many others who contribute day by day to this honorable work, bring Civil Protection to the highest level of public service, acting relentlessly to achieve the best response to the difficulties, highlighting the excellence in coordination between the Public Administrations and the emergency services dedicated to this purpose,” he added.
Anselmo Pestana has highlighted the importance of the Government achieving, within the framework of the Spanish Presidency of the European Union, an extension until 2027 of the financing of air capacities against forest fires as a transitional measure: this “will allow Member States to continue benefiting from European funds to improve the provision of aircraft and helicopters for this purpose,” he said.
“The role of Civil Protection is fundamental. Its fundamental importance is its structuring and commitment to the citizenry and it is in times of great difficulty that the work they carry out and the desire to improve the response of the capacities of our National Civil Protection System stands out, a work that in most cases is silent, anonymous and without media exposure,” said the government delegate.
“Our policies,” he said, “must be aimed at anticipating the occurrence of risks and threats, at constant prevention, at betting on effective planning that will help improve immediate interventions in emergencies, all with the aim of a rapid return to normality, the early restoration of essential services and the reconstruction of affected areas.”
In his speech, Anselmo Pestana also highlighted the commitment of the Government of Spain to citizen security, manifested, among other issues, through the reinforcement of the number of Civil Guard and National Police troops in the Canary Islands, placing the replacement rate at 125 percent.
For her part, the general director of Civil Protection and Emergencies has highlighted: “We have witnessed various moments in which those involved in the emergencies that have occurred in the Canary Islands during 2023 have even risked their own well-being and, sometimes, their own lives. For this reason, we are under a moral obligation to publicly acknowledge the effort, dedication and, where appropriate, professionalism demonstrated in the execution of actions, which are clearly meritorious, with a more than outstanding result.”
Civil Protection Merit Medal collectively
The Command of the Civil Guard of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and in its representation in the imposition act, its chief colonel, Ángel Sanz, has received the Medal of Merit of Civil Protection in its category of silver and blue distinctive, awarded by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, for his work during the emergency recorded by a large forest fire in Tenerife in 2023, particularly for his actions in favor of citizen security, animal protection and environmental preservation.
Individual Civil Protection Merit Medals
At the proposal of the Delegation of the Government in the Canary Islands, the Minister of the Interior has awarded the Medal of Merit of Civil Protection in its category of silver and white distinctive to Rafael Martínez López, Chief Commissioner of the National Police, on whose behalf he has collected the decoration Minerva Navarro, of the National Police.
For his part, Victor Ruiman Alonso, chief inspector of the National Police, has received the Medal of Merit of Civil Protection in its bronze and distinctive red category, awarded by the general director of Civil Protection and Emergencies for her leadership in the management of irregular migratory flows to the island of Tenerife, directing the operations of reception and coordination of the arrivals of cayucos and pateras.
The captain of the Civil Guard Alfonso Jacobo Sanz Barrios has received the Medal of Merit of Civil Protection in his bronze and distinctive blue category, awarded by the general director of Civil Protection and Emergencies for his unconditional delivery beyond the responsibility in the civil protection emergencies that occurred in recent years, as well as in the security operations of major events.
The general director of Civil Protection and Emergencies has also awarded the Medal of Merit of Civil Protection in its category of bronze and blue badge to Sergeant of the Civil Guard José Israel Leñero Rodríguez, for his intervention in the rescue of a cayuco with immigrants of sub-Saharan origin on board, one nautical mile south of the port of La Restinga, guaranteeing the physical integrity of all its occupants.
Francisco Reboso Quintana, provincial coordinator of the Civil Protection Emergency Radio Network (REMER) in Las Palmas, has received the Medal of Merit of Civil Protection in its bronze and blue badge category, awarded by the general director of Civil Protection and Emergencies for her collaborative spirit and delivered in all the missions entrusted and highlighting especially in recent years for her effort to publicize REMER in all the municipalities of the province.
For his part, Francisco Javier Torres Sánchez, Island Emergency Coordinator of the Island Council of Fuerteventura, has received the Medal of Merit of Civil Protection in its category of bronze and blue badge, awarded by the General Director of Civil Protection and Emergencies for the actions carried out in the field of civil protection at a preventive, operational, formative and informative level throughout the archipelago, not only in Fuerteventura, demonstrating a high professional capacity.
He has also received the Medal of Merit for Civil Protection in its bronze and distinctive blue category, awarded by the General Director of Civil Protection and Emergencies, José Domingo Linares Albertos, multisectoral coordinator of CECOES-112, for his unconditional support for Civil Protection services in the different phases of the emergency cycle, both as head of the CECOES room in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and in his stage as director of the Emergency Coordination Center.
And the same distinction, the Medal of Merit for Civil Protection in its bronze and distinctive blue category, awarded by the general director of Civil Protection and Emergencies, has been imposed on Juan Francisco Mendoza González, head of the Association of Civil Protection Volunteers of El Golfo (El Hierro), for his tireless collaboration in providing humanitarian aid necessary to alleviate the effects of the arrival of irregular immigrants on the island, seeking solutions for the assistance of migrants.
The Director General of Civil Protection and Emergencies has awarded the Medal of Merit for Civil Protection in its bronze and white distinctive category to Roberto Gabriel Hernández Santana, first corporal of the Civil Guard, for his unconditional involvement in emergency services in the municipalities of Valsequillo and San Mateo, in Gran Canaria, and for his work in preventing them.