France offered 200 firefighters to Spain but the government rejected them: “It is not necessary”

The catastrophe caused by the cold drop in Spain is generating gestures of solidarity from other countries towards Spain.

The shameful situation shown by Iker Jiménez from the ground zero of the cold drop
The incomprehensible delay of the government in deploying the Army due to the cold drop

Several governments, such as those of Portugal, El Salvador, Argentina, France, the United States, Germany and Ireland, have offered help to Spain, some of them expressing their willingness to send personnel to help those affected by the cold snap. France offered 200 firefighters and their vehicles, according to the French Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau. However, his Spanish counterpart, the socialist Fernando Grande-Marlaska, rejected this French help, claiming that "it is not necessary."

According to Retailleau, Marlaska told him that "we are in a first phase in which we are trying to organize ourselves, we have our own means, we are mobilizing the Army." The French minister's statements can be heard in this video posted yesterday by the French channel BFM21 (you can activate the automatic subtitles in English in the bottom bar of the player):

These statements come as many residents are denouncing the abandonment they suffer in the affected areas and in the midst of a wave of criticism for the slow and insufficient deployment of the Armed Forces, creating a situation in which many residents have been without water, electricity, internet or mobile phone service for two days, and suffering looting. It is unusual and outrageous that in a situation like this, the government is refusing to accept help from other countries.

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Photo: Efe. Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Minister of the Interior, with Pedro Sánchez, President of the Government, in the Congress of Deputies.