OPERATION BALMIS
IS MONDAY
PUBLIC SERVICES IN THEIR EFFORTS TO CONTAIN THE EPIDEMIC
supplies, surveillance of nuclear power
plants, etc. Anything that may be
required by the delegated competent
authorities to guarantee the provision
of services and the protection of all,
as laid down in the decree declaring
the state of alarm in the country on
Saturday, March 14th. Defence Minister,
Margarita Robles, summed it up the
next day in her first appearance before
the press: “They will help guarantee
the right to health of all citizens. Their
deployment will be necessary to assist
everywhere”.
From 3 p.m. that same Sunday,
the Military Emergencies Unit (UME)
was already carrying out preliminary
reconnaissance in cities where the
risk of contagion could be high.
This decision was taken during the
coordination meeting held in the
morning at the Ministry of Defence to
address the measures to be taken
by the Armed Forces due to the
pandemic, a meeting that was chaired
by the Minister and attended by State
Secretary of Defence, Ángel Olivares;
Chief of the Defence Staff (CHOD),
General Miguel Ángel Villarroya;
Deputy Secretary of Defence, Alejo de
la Torre; Undersecretary of Defence for
Political Affairs, Admiral Juan Francisco
April 2020 Revista Española de Defensa 13
Font Cuberta/EFE