Barcelona, 20th October 2025 – The government delegate in Catalonia, Carlos Prieto, visited Terres de l'Ebre on Monday with the aim of getting to know first-hand the situation of the municipalities most affected by the DANA Alice’s downpours that occurred a week ago. One of the main demands of the mayors has been in relation to the request for the area affected by the downpours to be considered as 'an area seriously affected by a civil protection emergency' - what was previously known as 'catastrophic area'. In this regard, Prieto has affirmed that "The dossier is being worked on" and that the government delegation in Catalonia and the subdelegation in Tarragona "We will support this request", the government delegate said.

During the subsequent press conference Prieto explained that, faced with the demand to speed up aid for this type of emergency, the current government of Spain is awarding the subsidies "less than a year since the emergency occurred", whereas "Before this government I was between four and five years away."

On the aid, the delegate mentioned that, during the meeting held with the mayors of Montsià, he detailed the more than two million euros that were awarded by Terres de l'Ebre in the resolution of the Secretary of State for Territorial Policy and stressed the intention of the Government of Spain to help with the maximum "flexibility". In this regard, Prieto has mentioned the coordination with the Generalitat de Catalunya - and has called on the Provincial Council of Tarragona - to put on the table more aid to the affected municipalities, all compatible with 50% of the expenses covered by state aid. "We must help the municipalities as much as possible, which are the ones with the most vulnerable budget in this type of eventuality", Prieto has concluded.

Resilient infrastructures

In any case, Carlos Prieto has prioritized the need to look at resilient infrastructures. "No mayor wants to receive subsidies to repair a road year after year. The key now is to rethink everything", said Prieto, who has been very critical of the autonomous governments of the Popular Party to boycott the State Pact against the Climate Emergency. "Climate change is a reality. When one thinks of a Civil Protection Agency, the Autonomous Communities of the PP cannot turn their backs on progress because this will lead us to new fires in a few months and not respond to the citizens", he denounced Carlos Prieto. Asked about a possible pact at a regional level, Prieto has assured that "Catalonia can set an example to the rest of Spain in terms of reaching a pact to combat climate change. You have to put all the resources available."

The delegate, who has highlighted the coordination that during the most complex hours of DANA Alice there was between the Government delegation in Catalonia and subdelegation in Tarragona with municipalities, county councils and the different Generalitat conselleries involved, thanked "the immediate reaction of mayors and mayors in terms of help and assistance". "They were there when their help was needed before the roadblocks," has expressed Carlos Prieto while congratulating the mayors for "their solidarity with the citizens".

“Long-term solutions”

In a sense very similar to that of the delegate of the Government, the president of the Consell Comarcal del Montsià, Sergi Guimerà, who in turn appealed to the media to “Make infrastructure and find long-term solutions because there can’t be roads that have been repaired three or four times in five years.”

After the press conference, Prieto has moved to Alcanar Platja, one of the areas most affected by last week's downpours, to analyze, accompanied by the first deputy mayor Neus Sancho, the ravages caused by DANA Alice and reaffirm the commitment of the Spanish government to the affected municipalities.