Four days after the tragic floods which left at least 211 dead in the south-east of Spain, according to a provisional report, thousands of volunteers are going to the affected communities to help clear up.
This Saturday, the government announced the sending of 10,000 additional soldiers and police officers. In total, “5,000 soldiers” more will be deployed on the ground, including 4,000 “even today” et 1 000 “tomorrow morning”announced Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
This figure brings to 7,500 the number of soldiers mobilized in the disaster areas, i.e. the “largest deployment of armed forces ever carried out in Spain in peacetime”insisted the head of government.
To these soldiers will be added some 5,000 additional police officers and gendarmes, responsible for supporting their 5,000 colleagues already on the ground, according to Mr. Sanchez.
Reinforcements eagerly awaited in certain localities still facing a chaotic situation.
The outpourings of solidarity continued on Saturday, notably in Valencia, where thousands of people gathered at dawn to go on foot to neighboring towns, equipped with shovels and brooms.
On Friday, the number of volunteers was such that the authorities called on residents to stay at home and banned traffic on certain roads to prevent the roads used by emergency services from being congested.
