- The CELOG of the Government Delegation has had more than 500 volunteers and sent 600 pallets to Valencia
Barcelona, February 7, 2025.- The Government delegate in Catalonia, Carlos Prieto, thanked this Friday the entities, associations, companies, institutions and municipalities that have collaborated voluntarily and selflessly with the device that the Government Delegation in Catalonia organized for those affected by the DANA of Valencia.
It has done so during the ceremony of awarding diplomas to all the volunteers who participated in this initiative of the Government Delegation, which responded to the need of many Catalan municipalities that were overwhelmed by the solidarity of their neighbors after the disaster caused by the DANA in Valencia and for which, last November, it enabled a Logistics Center (CELOG) in a pavilion to receive and manage all the material.
In his speech at the ceremony of awarding diplomas held at the headquarters of the Government Delegation in Catalonia, Prieto recalled the “wave of commendable solidarity” that triggered the tragedy and how “faced with the need to channel aid effectively, the need to act arose”. He has defended the rapid response of the Government and the various emergency and security bodies of the State that went to the relief call of the Valencian Community “putting their lives at risk from the first moment”.
The delegate thanked the “commitment and altruism” of all the people who have collaborated in this device for “being an example of what it means to build a more just and supportive society.” “Your work has established a precedent of organization and cooperation that we must continue to strengthen in the face of future emergencies and challenges,” he said. According to Prieto, “solidarity is the best of legacies” and he added: “When we act together, we are able to make a difference.”
500 VOLUNTEERS 600 PALLETS
This Logistic Center (CELOG) of the Delegation, with the collaboration of Red Cross Catalonia, volunteers of Civil Protection of the Generalitat, Forest Defense Association (ADF) and Solidarity Drivers of TMB, organized the storage, cataloguing and subsequent shipment of humanitarian material from 75 Catalan municipalities. The device counted the collaboration of more than 500 volunteers and nearly 600 pallets of humanitarian material were sent to Valencia.
The delegate highlighted not only the “great work” that was done in this center but also the coordination with the Delegation of the Valencian Government, whose head, the delegate of the Government in Valencia, Pilar Bernabé, has carried out “an exceptional work” to respond to the devastation caused by the DANA.
TWO CELOGS
Faced with the need expressed by the councils that were overwhelmed by the solidarity of their neighbors, Prieto sent on November 5, 2024 a letter to the municipalities recommending, on the one hand, that they request the entities, companies and neighbors of their municipalities to prioritize economic donations to entities working in the field.
On the other hand, it promised to open a space to store, catalog and send humanitarian material from the municipalities to Valencia. Thus, on Wednesday, November 6, a sports hall of the Civil Guard Command in Sant Andreu de la Barca was set up as the first space to receive the first items.
This space was intended exclusively for municipalities -- which were coordinating the solidarity of their municipalities -- who were asked to fill out a form to know what they had, and to organize and paletize it before bringing it to CELOG. Those who requested it were given logistical support and pallets and material to send the palletized items.
Once the material began to be received, in the CELOG, a triage, a separation, sorting and, above all, a catalog were carried out, to send to Valencia what was needed and where it was needed. After knowing the volume of material that the municipalities requested to bring, the Delegation began work on November 9 on a second CELOG in a ship ceded by the Port of Barcelona and the Logistics Activity Area (ZAL) of the same, with much more capacity and maneuverability to give entry and exit to the material.
48 hours later, the Government Delegation had enabled the space and since that day, 75 Catalan municipalities had already been served from the CELOG command center - which in addition to the Delegation had the collaboration of the Civil Guard, National Police, Civil Protection of the Delegation and Civil Protection of the Generalitat.
In permanent contact with the Government Delegation in Valencia and the Government Subdelegation in Valencia and various entities working on the ground in the affected area, the aid was derived in an orderly manner and sent to each place what was needed thanks to the catalogue created by the Delegation.
PLURAL SOLIDARITY
“They took adult diapers to homes for seniors, and baby diapers to day-care centers, in areas where shops had been flooded. Or liters and liters of Bleach to help with cleaning, as well as water pumps or food where they were needed,” said the delegate who said that, without the collaboration of volunteers, this would not have been possible.
Prieto highlighted the various profiles that have gathered in the Delegation today to receive their recognition reflecting the diversity of the country and that, “in terms of solidarity, there are no differences”. He has assured that in the worst moments humanity shows its worst and its best face: “And in this room is the best.”
VOLUNTARY ENTITIES AND COMPANIES
In addition to the volunteers who have participated in logistics, cataloguing and transport, among others, they have also collaborated Superior Police Headquarters, Civil Guard Command, ZAL Port de Barcelona, Conductors Solidaris, Creu Roja Catalunya, Puente China, ADF, Civil Protection Ajuntament Terrassa, Regiment Barcelona63, Pinter, Sureste Seguridad, Toyota, Linde, Fundació Superacció, Mezquita de Cornellà, Fundació Esportiva Terrassa, Fundació, DNA Madrid Union, Security.
In addition to voluntary personnel, they have contributed material (bulls, pallet trucks, forklifts, pallets, boxes, tape, office equipment…), transport (trailers, trucks, cars), catering (for volunteers and volunteers), vests and safety equipment, among other things.
For its part, the Civil Guard put the space in the Command, the National Police offered a space and the ZAL of the Port of Barcelona put a ship in the same ZAL.