Por Pablo Arranz 
This was relayed by emergency mayor José Martínez, who presented the conclusions after holding the technical day at the Iberian Big Stop.
«In Lorca, we were prepared, so we activated the Territorial Civil Protection Plan in just half an hour. We showcased all our operational units and ensured the connection.»
«While others improvised, here there was a plan. That makes a difference when managed with rigor, planning, and a service vocation.»
Lorca, May 16, 2025. José Martínez, the industrial development and emergency situations counselor in the city of Lorca, announced this morning the main conclusions of the technical day at the electrical stop, which paralyzed Spain and Portugal on April 28 and took place on May 8 in Lorca.
The day, organized by the public emergency school in Lorca, brought together essential services techniques, security forces, emergencies, civil protection, health, municipal administrations, and private companies in the Guadalentín region and northern Almera.
During the event, Martínez emphasized the seriousness of the situation: «The Iberian Big Stop affected more than 50 million people. It was a tough blow to our critical infrastructure and a clear warning that we need to be prepared.»
«What happened on April 28 cannot happen again. In Lorca, we were prepared, so we activated the territorial civil protection plan in just half an hour, showcased all operational units, and ensured the connection and voice data through a satellite communication system. The service vocation.»
The technical report presented today highlights numerous incidents in essential services: from the fall of phone and internet communications, to non-functional providers of POS, ATMs, and gasoline. Many municipalities have verified with concern that their health centers did not have backup generators. On the other hand, in Lorca, the emergency service ensured operability from the get-go, including means and coverage in remote distances and rural areas, and the authorization of a care center for electro-dependent patients in IFE; In addition to being handled with excellent coordination with the local police, national police, and civil guard.
«The technical day served to share experiences, detect structural flaws at a national level, and draw lessons that we will share with other administrations,» said Martínez, who also announced that the Ministry of Ecological Transition will receive a consolidation of security protocols against network incidents.
The counselor concluded by insisting on the need to prepare municipalities «not only for the probable, but also for the unexpected.»
In terms of conclusions and lessons learned, the following are highlighted:
– It is necessary to develop autonomous communication systems from commercial communication networks that ensure population communication in case of emergencies, disasters, and other critical situations. The ES-Alert system must operate even when electricity and commercial communication networks fail.
– It is urgent to integrate into regional and autonomous emergency and disaster planning, proactive action protocols to serve vulnerable population groups, especially to assist chronic patients and the elderly living at home.
– All critical and essential infrastructure for the population that must ensure the operation of basic services must have emergency generators, properly maintained, updated, and with a minimum diesel reserve to support 48 hours of autonomous operation.
– It is a priority to provide at least health centers and other health facilities that have emergency generators and fuel reserves.
– The Lorca municipal council in recent years has made significant efforts to strengthen the self-protection capacity of our population, especially with children and young people, so it is necessary to expand this training that reaches all sectors of the population, to enhance the ability to cope with critical situations.
– All critical and essential infrastructure for the population that must ensure the operation of basic services must have secure voice and data communication systems, a fundamental satellite for data, as well as a terrestrial voice communication network, ensuring communication between them and emergency coordination centers (CECOPI at a regional level).
– Spain needs an integrated emergency communications system that includes all emergency and security services at a national, regional, and local level, allowing operational coordination at these three territorial levels. As an example of a proposal, to create a communications system that allows the integration of autonomous and local emergency and security services with the National Police and Civil Guard.
– At the Lorca municipal level, it is noteworthy to provide communication capacity in critical situations with our districts, to meet any urgent needs.