The town of Paiporta near Valencia was particularly hard hit by Tuesday’s storm. At least 215 people were killed. Shortly afterwards, there was criticism of the authorities, also because they had only given very brief warnings about the masses of water. The population’s pent-up resentment was released on Sunday during the king’s visit to Paiporta. He showed understanding. Journalist Julia Macher was there.
Julia Macher
Journalist in Barcelona
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Julia Macher reports from Spain for various radio and TV stations, mainly about society and culture.
SRF News: Julia Macher, how did the king’s visit with Prime Minister Sánchez and regional president Manzón go?
Julia Macher: It was actually impressive. I have never seen such a reception by an official commission in Spain. This commission was about to begin the tour of Paiporta. Hundreds of residents stood there. The anger was released relatively spontaneously. The first ones shout: “Get away, murderer!” People threw mud, clay and stones at the commission from the streets and balconies.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was taken to a car after being hit with a stick. The rest of the commission, the Queen and the King, stayed for a while and tried to talk to the population and calm them down, which didn’t always work. Then the visit was canceled.
That’s what the king said
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“You have to understand the anger and disappointment of many people about what bad things have happened to them, because it is difficult to understand how the mechanisms work and there is an expectation that the emergency will be taken care of,” the king said the Europa Press agency.
Who or what is the population’s anger directed at?
Presumably against everyone who is considered a representative of the state. After these last few days, disaster protection is largely considered to have failed. There are accusations from the population that they did not react in a timely manner. It is therefore a matter of collective dissatisfaction with politics and the current crisis management. In a way, that’s understandable, after five days of state of emergency.
Many people’s nerves are simply frayed.
Many people still do not have a functioning drinking water supply. Food has become scarce in some places and the roads are still blocked. Many people’s nerves are simply frayed. When an official commission arrives, they are quickly seen as the main culprit in such a situation.
Abolition of the civil protection unit
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When he took office last year, the regional president of Valencia, Carlos Manzón, quickly abolished the authority that had previously been responsible for rapid response to natural disasters.
According to journalist Julia Macher, it is difficult to say whether this was part of the reason for the protests. “It actually caused a debate in the Spanish media that regional president Manzón abolished the regional civil protection unit because the right-wing extremist Vox party wanted it that way. The authorities may have been able to respond more quickly if this unit still existed.
In Spain there are certainly action plans to prevent flood risks. Did these not help in the current case?
According to geologists, these “cold drops” had dimensions that were difficult to prepare for, at least in terms of infrastructure. There is a civil protection system and there was also a timely warning from the weather service. But the authorities thought, “Well, maybe it won’t be so bad.” But then things got much worse.
Catastrophe also due to urban planning
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If you look at the map, most of the affected towns and villages are located along the Mediterranean coast. Construction has been going on there since the 1960s, but also increased due to the construction boom in the 1990s.
Only since 2015 have it been necessary to show on maps which areas or construction zones could be at risk from floods. Corresponding risks must then be calculated. “A lot of apartments, houses and a lot of important infrastructure are on so-called floodable land,” says journalist Julia Macher.
A total of 280,000 apartments are at risk in the three provinces of Valencia, Alicante and Murcia. In Valencia there are five percent of the entire area with apartments. And in Murcia even 17 percent. “This is urban planning that only makes such disasters worse in times of climate crisis,” explains Macher.
Spain’s economy is currently growing faster than that of the USA, also due to tourism. Given this background, is it realistic that something will now change in terms of urban planning or flood protection?
That will be the big question. In a statement on Saturday, Prime Minister Sánchez said there was an urgent need to make more efforts on climate change adaptation and move projects forward more quickly. At the same time, however, he said that now we have to rebuild what the floods destroyed. So there is a difference between theory and practice.
Matthias Küng conducted the interview.
