The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, during his speech at the event.
The event began with an emotional minute of silence for the two civil guards who died last Friday in Barbate after their boat was hit by a drug trafficker’s boat. “We have no words nor are there medals that can express the enormous gratitude for his work and his life dedicated to building a better society,” said Minister Grande-Marlaska, who has reiterated that “these murders will not go unpunished.”
The Civil Guard is one of the pillars of the National Civil Protection System, the Minister of the Interior recalled, a system that has a “transcendental and decisive role in structuring a modern, supportive and committed society.”
In that sense, “the strength and effectiveness of that society rests on men and women like those awarded today, who demonstrate year after year an admirable capacity to respond to the difficult challenges that we have to face.” “You are the vanguard of the nearly 350,000 professionals who make up this exemplary National Civil Protection System”, which includes members of the State Security Forces and Corps, the Armed Forces, health services, and local police. , from the rescue and protection teams of the different administrations and many other collaborators whose contribution from the world of business, universities, or the media makes this System increasingly robust.
A recognition of an entire professional career
Among the winners, it is worth highlighting the gold medal with a red badge awarded posthumously to Fernando Solans, a Spanish pilot who died on January 15 in Chile while fighting forest fires.
On the other hand, José María Ángel Batalla, former head of Emergencies in the Generalitat Valenciana, and whose performance was decisive for the development of the AML geolocation system, received a gold medal with a white badge; Gustavo Armas, former emergency director of the Government of the Canary Islands and head of management during the eruption of the La Palma volcano; Isabel Goicoechea, former undersecretary of the Ministry of the Interior, and Carlos Novillo, current Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Interior in the Community of Madrid and who could not attend the ceremony, so the current Director General of Civil Protection of Madrid collected his award .
At today’s event, the Health Alerts and Emergencies Coordination Center also received a special mention, a silver medal with a blue badge that Fernando Simón collected. This same award has been given to the head of International Relations of the National Civil Protection Authority of Portugal, Ana Isabel Oliveira de Freitas.
Among the rest of the winners were representatives of the State Security Forces and Bodies, the Armed Forces, officials from the three levels of the Administration, as well as Civil Protection volunteers and heads of companies, in the field of science and the university that provides fundamental collaboration with the Civil Protection.