It is a rather consensual figure that Carlos Mazon, the president of the Valencia region, chose to appoint on Tuesday, November 19, to supervise the reconstruction of the disaster areas. General Francisco José Gan Pampols leaves retirement to take charge of the case after the floods of October 29 which caused 227 victims, including 219 in the Valencia region alone (8 missing), and considerable material damage in 79 municipalities.
“I will not concern myself with politics and anything unrelated to the work I am engaged in», declared the now vice-president of the generality of Valencia for reconstruction.
Francisco J. Gan Pampols takes office in a climate of distrust of the population towards politicians, while left and right have continued since these tragic events to pass the responsibility to each other for shortcomings in the management of first aid. “We must take the reconstruction debate out of the political sphere,” insisted the general, aware of the deleterious political atmosphere plaguing Spain.
Field experience
Born in Figueras (Catalonia) in 1958, Francisco J. Gan Pampols has field experience in war zones. He was director of the intelligence center of the Spanish Armed Forces and participated in international missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Afghanistan. Until January 2020 and his retirement, he was head of the headquarters of the NATO Rapid Reaction Corps, based in Bétera, in the Valencia region.
The general is a man of endurance, an outstanding mountaineer who participated in three polar expeditions to Antarctica, Lapland and Siberia. A graduate of political science and sociology, he demanded to be free to name his team which will be made up only of “technicians, and the best”. “What we must do today is work, work well and work quickly», he said in an interview published Wednesday, November 20 in the left-wing daily The Country.
“Minimize what could happen in the future”
Francisco J. Gan Pampols believes that his action will be primarily to respond to the emergency in which the municipalities still find themselves, by restoring normal life as a priority for residents and businesses that participate in the social fabric. Then, he wants to work on a new prevention plan while the infrastructure must be improved. “It's one thing to fix what's happening now and another to minimize what might happen in the future», he explains.
Even if he declares that he wants to stay away from political contingencies, he will not be able to completely escape them. Spain is made up of regions, most of which have very broad autonomy. However, in the exceptional case of disasters, it is the Spanish State which will finance the vast majority of reconstruction. The head of government, Pedro Sanchez, has already announced that he has released 14 billion euros for aid, compared to 200 million euros allocated by the general government of Valencia.
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