The delegate of the Government in Cantabria, Eugenia Gómez de Diego, has attended, invited by the European Association of Territorial Representatives of the State (AERTE), the Conference on natural disaster management held in Izmir (Turkey) between 2 and 4 May.
In her speech, the delegate took the opportunity to present how is the governance of the management of emergencies in situations of natural disasters in Spain. In particular, he explained how the activity of the public service that protects people and goods against emergencies and disasters due to natural causes is organized, particularizing it in the natural disaster that occurred in Cantabria, in January 2019.
In this task, as Eugenia Gómez de Diego explained, although immediate intervention is the competence of the Autonomous Communities and the State is to support these actions, the National Civil Protection System is an “essential instrument to ensure a coordinated and efficient response of all public administrations.”
On behalf of Spain, in addition to Gómez de Diego, the deputy general director of European and International Relations, Silvia Negro, and the Government delegate in La Rioja, Beatriz Arraiz, also participated.
What is AERTE
The European Association of Territorial Representatives of the State (AERTE) promotes the exchange of good practices relating to regional public policies and contributes to the training of its members in the field of administrative culture and community law. Its members include European countries (France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Albania) and non-European countries (Turkey, Morocco). Some of them have national associations. A conference is held annually on topics related to issues of interest in the territory. This year, the theme of the Conference is on natural disaster management.