Spain holds its breath in the face of the new warnings launched by the . The agency put up to nine communities on notice due to the announcement of a new chapter of torrential rains caused by a new dana that arrives only a week after the end of the greatest climate catastrophe that this country has suffered in this century and that has left the at least 223 dead and has devastated homes, schools and infrastructure. After the citizen unrest, the authorities this time have been quick to act. Especially in the Valencian Community, where still this Tuesday a new victim was found in the Albufera. Governments asked not to go on the road, closed schools and tried again to protect themselves from possible flooding of streams and ravines. The measures did not remain in that territory: Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Andalusia also put measures on the table to protect against dana.
Two weeks after the strong floods that suffered more than 75 municipalities in the Valencian Community, but warned that, once again, the danger was focused on the Balearic Islands – which last August already suffered heavy flooding -, the Valencian Community, Murcia, Malaga and Western Andalusia. In these areas, according to the agency, up to more than 120 cubic liters can accumulate in twelve hours. After 9:00 p.m., the red alert was given for Malaga, and around 11:00 p.m., for the southern coast of Tarragona. For the rest, the notices were orange and yellow. Likewise, some 3,000 people were evicted this Tuesday by the Andalusian Government in the Malaga municipalities of Álora, Cártama, Alhaurín de la Torre, Pizarra and Málaga, which were most affected by the dana just two weeks ago.
The main concerns were in those localities where the floods occurred. For example, Paiporta, Picanya, Chiva or Aldaia. There, the mayors seek above all to protect their populations and what has been achieved so far, which is to begin to leave isolation behind. What happened in the Valencian Community, where an arduous political battle for the management of the dana is predicted, led the rest of the autonomies to rush to act in the face of a climate phenomenon that, although expected to be weaker, has shown that it can also be unpredictable.
Given the warnings from Aemet, Catalonia sent an alert to the residents of five regions of Tarragona due to heavy rains expected for almost everything this Wednesday and suspended classes in all its educational centers, including universities. Some 40 municipalities in the Valencian Community, also the capital, decided to do the same, while late at night the Junta de Andalucía also notified the mobile phones of the people of Malaga. The Government of Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla suspended classes throughout the province of Malaga and in four towns in Granada. The University of Granada decreed at the last minute the closure of all its centers and canceled all its activities. . These were collapsed during the dana, in the Valencian Community not so much because of the emergencies required, but also because those who were discharged were left incommunicado.
And this whole new chapter of fear occurred right at the start of the climate summit. The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, took the tragedy of Valencia to that point. The message was clear: this catastrophe exposed what scientists have been warning for years: that climate change is costing lives and millions in economic losses. “It is not an isolated event, climate change kills, we must act,” Sánchez recalled. Until Tuesday night, the rains were already causing delays at airports in the Balearic Islands and road closures in Castilla y León. Politicians are crossing their fingers for this Wednesday. Above all, in Valencia. And just the day in which the area most affected by damage recovers 99% of its mobility.
