The Valencia region was hit this week by catastrophic floods which caused the death of more than 200 people.
The south of the city was hit hard while the city center was mostly preserved.
The diversion of the Turia River in the 1970s explains this contrast.
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Deadly floods in Spain
The Valencia region is healing its wounds after Tuesday's terrible floods which claimed the lives of more than 200 people and disfigured the urban landscape. If the southern conurbation of Spain's third largest city is paying a considerable price, the center of Valencia has been relatively spared by the rising waters. A contrast which can be explained by a human choice dating back more than half a century, following a similar catastrophe.
On October 14, 1957, Valencia was indeed hit by massive floods caused by the flood of the Turia, the river which crossed the city, fatally swollen, again, by precipitation which could reach in places more than 300 millimeters per square meter in a few hours.
Floods worsened by land urbanization
The human (at least 81 dead) and material toll then led the Franco authorities to develop a radical solution to protect Valencia from a new disaster: divert the river into the southern part of the city, essentially made up of land at the time. agricultural. This development, the result of a colossal 10-year project, had the expected effects in 2024, allowing the heart of Valencia to avoid being devastated.
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The south of the city has in fact, and by extension, not been so lucky. The ground sealed by heavy urbanization of the area over five decades, coupled with the new, less winding and therefore faster route of the Turia, has aggravated the effects of this week's floods. By sparing Valencia and its city center, the diversion of the river also shifted the damage to the smaller municipalities of Sedavi, Picasent, La Torré and Paiporta which saw a veritable tsunami sweep over them. The last city, considered the epicenter and martyr city of the floods, shows the heaviest toll, with 62 deaths.
