Spain’s government approves extensive relief package for flood victims

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced that a relief package of €10.6 billion has been approved to help victims of the flash floods that hit the eastern coast of the country around Valencia last week.

Speaking at a press conference in Madrid, Sánchez compared the package to the measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He called the financial aid “a good first step, an agile and ambitious step with concrete and realistic measures that are already in force and that will help people and businesses in the coming days and weeks,” before adding that a formal application to access EU relief funds has also been made.

It comes amid widespread anger at the government’s weak response to the disaster, which was on display Sunday when a crowd tossed mud at Spain’s royal couple, the prime minister, and regional leaders as they made their first visit to the municipality of Paiporta.

The continuing storms in eastern Spain have killed at least 217 people, mostly near Valencia, but the death toll is expected to rise as more underground car parks are cleared out.

Spanish authorities are still struggling to access some areas as large swathes of land are covered in mud and rubble.

“It’s always the same word that comes to mind: apocalyptic”, says Thierry Velu, President of a French disaster relief NGO called “Groupe de Secours catastrophe”, which has sent men and equipment to the site as a matter of urgency.

He compares the current disaster in Spain to the 2004 tsunami in South-East Asia.

“I was there,” he said, “and I remember the millions of cubic metres of water, rubble and mud that invaded everything”.

Concerns for public health

There are also concerns that the extent of mud and debris could cause public health issues.

The mud is not just made up of water, earth, and other natural elements found in a river or the sea.

“During flooding in urban areas, sludge is made up of two aspects,” said Valérie Emphoux, head of flood risk management for the Antibes urban community.

The mud will also mix with everything it finds in its path. All kinds of rubbish, cigarette butts, droppings, plant protection products, and even human and animal corpses.

In Valencia, as after every flood, it’s a race against time.

“If possible, we need to clean up before the sludge dries out,” said Emphoux.

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The faster you go, the less time germs and bacteria have to develop, but once the soil is dry, it’s almost impossible to remove everything.

The Spanish authorities are taking the risks very seriously.

The Ministry of Health itself has finally published a list of health recommendations for residents and volunteers who have come from all over the country to lend a hand.