the reconstruction will be led by a former general

On November 19, the Valencian regional government charged a retired senior army officer withorganize reconstruction work in communities ravaged by the tragic floods of October 29by appointing him to head a new vice-presidency dedicated to this task.

Army Corps General Francisco José Gan Pampols “will vice-president of the Valencian government for economic and social recovery », announced in a press release the regional executive, under fire for its management considered chaotic of bad weather.

Centralisation et protection

This newly created vice-presidency will be responsible for “centralizing all actions” of the regional government for “recovery and economic and social normalization” in the municipalities affected by the floods, which caused 219 dead in the Valencia region (227 deaths in total).

It will also be up to him to develop a “protection plan” to enable the Valencia region to “deal with” possible new “natural disasters likely to endanger the population”specifies the press release.

The appointment of this general from the Army comes the day after a first reshuffle within the regional government of Valencia, led by the conservative Carlos Mazón, with the arrival of a new person responsible for Industry and the Tourism.

“Mistakes” but no resignation

Born in 1958, Francisco José Gan Pampols directed the General Military Academy of Zaragoza and then the Armed Forces Intelligence Center (Cifas) during his career. He also participated in peacekeeping missions in the former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan.

Severely weakened since the deadly bad weather at the end of October, Carlos Mazón admitted “errors” on Friday and presented his “apologies” to residents for his management of the disaster. The conservative leader, however, has ruled out resigning himself at this stage.