La actuación de los Gobiernos locales en situaciones críticas: régimen jurídico, límites, ordenación y planificación de la respuesta frente a emergencias

Abstract

This article analyses how local governments (specifically city councils) must act in the face of emergencies and critical situations, based on a central premise: every emergency manifests and is necessarily managed at the local level, even when its leadership eventually shifts to regional or national levels. Emergency planning is explained by three structural pillars of response: the tendency to concentrate decision-making within a “unified command” to increase speed and efficiency; the shift in jurisdictional authority based on the territorial scope or intensity of the event; and the legal delimitation of action boundaries through the principles of necessity and proportionality, subject to subsequent oversight. Finally, given the current context of increased frequency of extreme events and complex emergencies, the article highlights the need to improve multilevel governance, municipal planning, and inter-administrative coordination to strengthen local prevention and response capacities.

Keywords:

civil protection, emergency management, unified command, necessity and proportionality, municipal planning, interadministrative coordination, multilevel governance