TROISIEMES JOURNEES D’ETUDES PARLEMENTAIRES
SUR LA DEFENSE NATIONALE
SPEECH
Delivered by Colonel José Quevedo, head of Civil Defense and Arms Control Area,
General Directorate for Defense Policy, Ministry of Defense, Spain.
ROLE OF SPANISH ARMED FORCES IN EMERGENCIES
Ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honour for me to have the opportunity today to
address such a distinguished audience. I have been requested to present to this foro on
national defence the Spanish experiences on civil defence, specially regarding
legislation, organization, role of Armed Forces and collaboration between the civil and
the military sides. That is my area of responsibility during my day to day work at the
Ministry of Defence.
There is much to talk about civil defence, beginning by the concept itself that is
differently understood in different countries, and I would like to refer to this issue in a
few moments, so when preparing this intervention I decided to focus on the role of the
Armed Formed in support of civilian authorities in cases of crisis or catastrophes when
there is a risk for human lives and properties.
Last September I had the opportunity, and the pleasure, of chairing an international
seminar on Missions and Cooperation Procedures of the Armed Forces supporting Civil
Protection Authorities in Situations of Emergency and Disaster. The seminar took place
in the Spanish city of Toledo, under the auspices of the so called “5+5 Initiative” and
during three days experts from the Ministries of Defence of the participating countries,
including Algeria, discussed the issue and explored possibilities of increasing
collaboration among countries when one of them is facing a catastrophe like those we
have been witnessing recently.
One of the conclusions of the seminar was that we, the ten participating countries
bordering the Western Mediterranean area, are all concerned about protecting the lives
and properties of our people when put at risk by the same kind of catastrophes and
natural or artificial disasters. Earthquakes, maritime pollution, flooding, desertification,
forest fires, industrial hazards…; all are issues of common concern and ensuring
international collaboration, specially during the first hours, is of paramount importance
and a big step forward in improving our common security.
As a direct result of the seminar my country is organizing a command post exercise,
scheduled for next May-June, in order to explore ways to improving multination
cooperation among Ministries of Defence of the ten participating countries.
Now let us go to the issue of my intervention, you can see on the slide the outline of
what I would like to transmit to you today. As referred before, I would like to begin by
talking a few moments on the concept of civil defence as we understand it in my
country. I consider it important that we all know what we are referring to when using
this concept.
Then I will go to the heart of my speech, that being how civil protection is organized in
my country and what the role of the Armed Forces is. Here I can say up front that it is
an increasingly important role after my Parliament approved very recently, only last
November, a new Organic Law on National Defence.
Finally, I would like to spend a few minutes commenting some of the recent
experiences we have had nationally in facing catastrophes. The first one referring to the
case of maritime pollution fuelled by the tanker “Prestige”, and the second on the
catastrophe we are facing every year when our forests suffer an unacceptable number of
forest fires that allows desertification moving Northwards in what it seems to be a nonstop process.
Concept:
On the issue of the concept of civil defence, we, in Spain, understand it as the
“permanent availability of all human and material resources other than military for
national defence, and also for the fight against all kinds of extraordinary catastrophes”.
As you may see, the use of military resources is somehow outside the concept of civil
defence, but it is included in what we call Civil Emergency Planning. When we use
military resources in cases of civil emergencies or catastrophes, which is something that
usually happens, we call it “Collaboration of Armed Forces in support of Civil
Authorities” and this collaboration is at the core of my presentation here today.
Legal framework:
Now, after this introduction, let us go to the legal framework. The first thing I would
like to stress is the new focus of the Spanish Armed Forces´ missions. Traditionally,
those missions were strictly related to preserving the sovereignty, independence,
territorial integrity and constitutional system of Spain.
In 2002, after the Strategic Revision process that enjoyed broad Parliamentary support,
those missions were expanded to include aspects such us: assisting in critical
emergencies and catastrophes, evacuation of citizens, supporting key areas of national
economy, scientific and technological progress, supporting the State Security Forces,
providing transportation for the State’s activities and undertaking search and rescue
operations.
Lastly, the National Defense Act, approved by the Parliament last November, set up
four missions for the Armed Forces, the third of which read out: “Alongside with other
State Institutions and public administrations, and according to current legislation, the
Armed Forces must preserve citizen’s security and welfare in cases of great risks,
catastrophes, calamities or other public necessities”. The Armed Forces have now the
legal obligation to equip and prepare themselves to protect citizen’s lives and properties
in such a cases, with full respect to the legislation already in place. And, what this
legislation is? That related to civil protection.
In my country, civil protection is understood as the “physical protection of people and
their properties in situations of grave collective risk, public calamity or extraordinary
catastrophe”, and is regulated by the Civil Protection Act, approved by Parliament in
1985, and some other legal dispositions as the Royal Decree 407/ 1992 on the Basic
Norm on Civil Protection, and Civil Protection Plans (territorial & special), supported
by military contingency plans developed by the Chief of Defence Staff.
Civil protection structure:
Basically, as the Civil Protection Act recognizes it, civil protection is a problem of
organization. It is conceived as a public service and the competence lies on the State
Civil Administration, particularly on the shoulders of the Ministry of Interior.
Decentralization is also a characteristic of the Spanish civil protection system. As you
may know, Spain is composed of 17 autonomous regions and 2 cities under special
regime. Each of those entities bears responsibility on civil protection. The system is so
established in three echelons: Municipalities, Autonomic Regions and State. Each level
has the responsibility to produce their own civil protection plans and coordinate those of
inferior level.
When facing a catastrophe or public calamity that put at risk human lives and properties
the principle of subsidiarity applies, meaning by that the first intervention at the lowest
level (municipalities) and intervention of upper levels when the scope of emergency so
implies. To ensure coordination of different actors involved (civil and military), Civil
Protection Commissions and Operative Coordination Centres are envisaged at regional
and State levels. It is important to notice that the State level retains the right to declare
any situation as of “National interest” when the dimension of the situation so advises.
It is also important to stress that, according to the Civil Protection Act, in emergencies,
the Armed Forces will collaborate when so requested by the competent civil authorities.
That competency is invested to the Minister of Interior, normally through the General
Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergencies, set up in 2000 inside the Ministry of
Interior, or through the Government Delegates (at autonomic regions level) or Subdelegates (at provincial level).
At State level, a series of special plans are to be developed in relationship with: Nuclear
emergencies, military conflicts, floods, earthquakes, chemical risks, transports of
hazardous merchandise, forest fires, and volcanic risks.
Collaboration criteria:
But, what are the basic criteria we are using to decide Armed Forces involvement in
emergencies?. So far, we were directed by the principle of “exceptionality”, Armed
Forces were equipped and prepared to confront a full range of crisis situations, focusing
on the more demanding combat situations. Their man power, discipline and special
equipment made them a useful tool for emergencies, when civil resources were not
enough to cope with the situation, but their lack of specific civil protection preparation
made their employment rather exceptional.
Today, under the new National Defense Act, and keeping the main responsibility lying
on the competent civil authorities, military interventions will be less exceptional and it
will increase the resources available to State level civil authorities to face catastrophic
situations and public emergencies.
As a response to this new mission assigned to the Armed Forces by the Parliament, last
October, the Government of Spain decided upon the setting up of a new military unit
called: Military Unit for Emergencies. Such a unit will be composed of up to 4.310
specialized personnel and will be deployed in six different bases across the Iberian
peninsula and Canary Islands.
This military unit will be commanded by a two stars general, will belong to the Ministry
of Defence but will be tasked and deployed by the Prime Minister Office, and when
used will be able to be reinforced by other military resources. Its mission is to intervene
in any part of Spain when decided by the Prime Minister, or any other Minister per
delegation, in order to contribute to citizen’s security and welfare in cases of great risks,
catastrophes, calamities or other public necessities.
This highly specialized military unit will be able to face a broad range of situations,
including forest fires fighting; search and rescue operations; nuclear, bacteriological and
chemical protection, or logistic support. It will be partially operational before next
summer, just to help during the summer campaign against forest fires, and fully
operational by the end of 2007.
Coming back to other criteria that must be taking into account before using military
resources in support of civil authorities, as contained in the Civil protection Act of
1985. There must be an explicit requirement from civilian authorities, including the
order to act from the Prime Minister. Civilian authorities will be always in charge. They
plan, conduct and are responsible for the operation. Military authorities will only be
responsible for accomplishing the assigned tasks. Finally, military units keep its own
structure and chain of command.
Collaboration procedures:
Let us go now to the procedures we are using in order to ensure, as much as possible, an
efficient support from the military to the civil authorities.
According to a Decree dated back to 1976, the usual procedure for civil authorities
asking for military support is as follows: When the representative of the central
government in a province (Sub-delegate) or autonomic region (Delegate) are to endure a
situation that exceeds their capabilities, they inform the Ministry of Interior (General
Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergencies) were the situation will be assessed.
If the Ministry of Interior can not cope with the situation with its own means, it will
request additional resources from other organisms, including the Ministry of Defense
(through the General Directorate on Defense Policy). After the Minister has been
informed and the operation authorized, military officers are integrated in the appropriate
coordination center, were tasks are assigned for each military unit deployed.
There are two exceptions to this general procedure. The first one occurs in cases of great
urgency or isolation. When local o regional civil authorities can not communicate in due
time through the previously explained system, they can ask for military support from
local military authorities in a position to provide such a support. In this cases, both: civil
authorities and military commanders are due to report through their respective lines of
command as soon as possible on the conditions of the support provided.
The second exception applies to frequent support activities, as is the case when
supporting civil regional authorities in Galicia (North West Spain) in fighting forest
fires every year, or Navy and Air Forces support to the Maritime Safety Society in
search and rescue operations in the Sea. In these cases, an agreement is signed between
the Ministry of Defense and the competent civil organization in order to regulate the
conditions of the support to be provided.
Study Cases:
That is all I wanted to stress regarding the military role in emergencies in my country.
We can go deeper to any point of your interest during the question and answers period.
But before concluding I would like to refer to two catastrophic emergencies we had
endured rather recently, were the military had taken a significant role.
The first one is the so called “Prestige crisis”. As you may remember, in November
2002 the fuel tanker Prestige sank 133 NM away from Cape Finisterre and 260 Km
from the Cíes islands. 11.000 Tm of fuel were spilled out affecting most of the Atlantic
and Cantabric coast of the Iberian peninsula.
Since the very beginning, after civil authorities’ request, the Spanish Navy was present
to provide support and ensure jurisdiction in territorial waters.
This tragedy was able to mobilize the biggest wave of solidarity all across my country
ever seen. Thousand and thousands of civilians volunteered from every country’s corner
to help cleaning the coast even working with their bare hands. The Armed Forces were
also mobilized very early on and were assigned the following tasks:
- Air traffic control (AF)
- Support to Sea traffic control (Navy)
- Shore cleaning (Army, Navy & AF)
- Shore cleaning in areas of difficult access (Army & Navy)
- Logistic support (Army, Navy & AF)
- Logistic support for civilians (volunteers) (Army)
- Bottom cleaning Atlantic I. (Navy, Civil Guards...)
An Integrated Coordination Center was set up in A Coruña under the direction of the
Deputy Prime Minister. Included in it there was a Situation Center in charge of
monitoring the fuel spots and coordinating cleaning operations. I would like to stress
here the complexity of this coordination taking into account the great number of
agencies involved with competencies in different aspects of the crisis.
Finally, 25 ships, 15 aerial vehicles, almost 300 terrestrial vehicles and close to 45.000
military personnel were involved in the operation. They worked around 7.000.000 hours
and recollected more than 20.000 Tm of fuel.
The second catastrophe I would like to turn your attention to is that related to forest
fires. Every year, more than 20.000 forest fires are to be put off in Spain, and around
1.000 square kilometers are devastated, last year 1.800 square kilometers, most of then
in the North West area. We had to suffer also last year the lost of 19 human lives (17
fire fighters) and injuries of different considerations in 49 other people.
Armed Forces collaboration is included every year in an Annual Plan along with the rest
of resources available, including international collaboration. In addition, every year we
sing one specific agreement between the Ministry of Defence and the Regional
authorities of Galicia, the autonomic region more affected, that regulates the details of
Armed Forces support in this region.
There is also an agreement between the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of
Infrastructures, trough its General directorate for Biodiversity, according to which the
Air Forces operate a fleet of 15 civilian fire fighter aircrafts, the aircrafts belong to the
Ministry of Infrastructures and the crews belong to the Air Forces. This military unit
denominated 43 Air Force Group, flew more than 2.800 hours last year and delivered
more than 50.000 cubic meters of water in fighting forest fires.
Last, but not least, I would like to mention the important effort made by the land forces
every year, maintaining 1.160 personnel permanently alerted to provide support in
prevention and logistic support activities.
The soon foreseen operational capability of the new Military Unit for Emergencies will
allow to increase very significantly the number of resources available for extinction
activities. Its Command & Control capabilities, availability and specialization will
imply a substantial improvement in the long standing fight against this serious threat to
my country.
Ladies and gentlemen, that is the end of my presentation. I want to thank you very much
for your attention and stand ready to answer any question you may raise.
Alger, February 25th 2006