Valencia, a city devastated by floods, escaped even worse

Published on November 1, 2024 at 7:10 p.m. / Modified on November 1, 2024 at 7:11 p.m.

What if herculean projects dating from the Franco era had considerably limited the damage from the worst climatic catastrophe of the century in Spain? This will perhaps be, in the aftermath of the unprecedented “cold drop” of last Tuesday, a small consolation for the hundreds of thousands of Valencians who are licking their wounds, counting the displaced people, without roofs, without electricity, and considerable material damage. But, today, looking in the rearview mirror of history, it is clear that Spain's third city, on the front line of climate change and target of the worst tragedy in Europe since the German floods of 2021, avoided an even more serious punishment.