Sagunto Municipal Police complete their first flood rescue training course
The Beach Unit of Sagunto's Municipal Police has taken part in the first edition of the Flood and Flash Flood Rescue Course, delivered by IVASPE alongside officers from other Valencian municipalities.
Sagunto Municipal Police has completed the first edition of the Flood and Flash Flood Rescue Course, run by IVASPE (Institut Valencià de Seguretat Pública i Emergències — the Valencian Government body responsible for specialist training of regional security forces), alongside officers from other municipalities in the Valencian Community. Sagunto was represented by its Beach Unit.
The course was designed as an institutional response to the DANA (severe storm event) of October 2024, which caused around 238 deaths in Spain — 224 of them in the Province of Valencia — and generated an estimated €10.7 billion in damages. The disaster made clear that municipal police forces must be systematically prepared for flood rescue, not only for scenarios previously considered exceptional.
Officers received technical knowledge and targeted training for flood conditions and aquatic rescue. Councillor for Municipal Police María José Carrera welcomed the initiative and highlighted the force's commitment to ongoing specialist training. According to the Ajuntament de Sagunt, the aim is to progressively expand emergency response capacity to meet increasingly frequent extreme weather events.