2024 Spanish floods

On 29 October 2024, torrential rain caused by an isolated low-pressure area at high levels brought over a year's worth of precipitation to several areas in eastern Spain, including the Valencian Community, Castilla–La Mancha, and Andalusia. The resulting floodwaters caused the deaths of 229 people, with five more missing and substantial property damage. It is one of the deadliest natural disasters in Spanish history.

The poor preparation and disaster response of the regional and national governments also likely aggravated the human cost of the event, notably in Valencia. After the flooding, thousands of volunteers from all around Spain and numerous nonprofit organizations mobilized to help with the cleanup and recovery.

## Chronology

- 25th October: Farmer and youtuber Juanvi Palleter posted a video on his social media saying that the AEMET radar in Valencia was not working.
- 29th October: National Security warned Moncloa at 8 am (12 hours before the DANA occurred).
- 3rd November: Paiporta riots of 2024
- 8th November: Cadaqués (Girona province) flooded by rain. Civil Protection did not issue any mobile alerts to residents.
- 10th November: Demonstration demanding the resignation of Mazón and Pedro Sánchez, where the left prevented protesters carrying banners against Pedro Sánchez from demonstrating.
- 11th November: A second DANA reached the Almería coast. Almería itself, El Ejido, Vícar, Balanegra and Roquetas de Mar, were the municipalities most affected by the rainfall, which caused flooding of homes, businesses and alleys; and problems in the road network.
- 12th November: A piano, masks and crosses for the dead appear on the footbridge of a bridge in Valencia.
- 13th November:
    - The governments of Andalusia and the Valencian Community issued new alerts on November 13 after new warnings of torrential rain in the provinces of Valencia and Málaga.
    - Massive evacuation of Málaga due to a new cold snap.
- 15th November: The president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, appears before the Valencian Parliament to give explanations regarding DANA.
- 16th November :
    - Demonstration to demand the resignation of Mazón and Sánchez.
    - The mayor of Paiporta, Maribel Albalat, points out a serious problem with the drainage system, which is completely destroyed, which has the consequence that sewage is starting to collect in houses.
- 18 November: It is discovered that Minister Ribera ordered a massive dumping of the Forata reservoir during DANA.
- 22 November: Visit of the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, to Paiporta.
- 24 November: The Government delegate, Pilar Bernabé, is harassed during her visit to Massanassa.

### Royal Palace

- On 30 October, King Felipe VI sent 42 agents of the King's Security to Valencia.
- On 3 November, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia visited the residents of Paiporta, accompanied by the president of the Valencian Government, Carlos Mazón; and the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez.
- On 7 November, Queen Letizia chaired a meeting at the Zarzuela Palace with the aim of finding ways to help Valencia.
- On 12 November, the king returned to Valencia as Chief of the Armed Forces to support the military working in the area. At eight in the evening he visited the Valencia Fair, which had become a rest and organization area, where he addressed the 600 of the more than 2,000 army personnel quartered there.
- On 19 November the Kings visited the affected areas again.

### Politicians

- On the day of the tragedy, the socialist government approved in the Congress of Deputies a law that would grant total control of RTVE. It was approved with the votes of PSOE, Sumar, PNV, Bildu, ERC and Junts, and the rejection of BNG.
- Pedro Sánchez did not activate the State of Alarm, which should have been activated given the situation caused.
- Instead of sending resources immediately, which is his duty as Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez said in a press conference: "If they need more resources, let them ask for them".
- Faced with the Paiporta riots, Sánchez's response was to call the people who were shouting at him "violent marginals". The government deployed an emergency helicopter and five elite agents to arrest Sánchez's attackers.
- Faced with criticism for not having sent in the army, Margarita Robles, Spanish Minister of Defense, said: "We cannot pretend that the Army does everything". However, when Morocco suffered an earthquake in 2023, the Sánchez government and Margarita Robles herself sent in the army immediately.
- Pedro Sánchez is trying to force the main opposition party, the Partido Popular (PP), to approve the state budgets including aid for those affected by the DANA.
- The government sent text messages to members of the UME and the armed forces deployed in the area indicating what they had to say to the media.

### Others

- Ángel Gaitán, a mechanic, was one of the first, along with Iker Jiménez, to go to the affected area, helping and informing from the very beginning. For their informative work, they have been attacked by the media. Among other things, they have brought food, water and clothing to the victims; they have installed solar streetlights, they have coordinated and organized the arrival of aid to the affected areas, they have denounced corruption of NGOs that are in the area as well as the theft of the installed streetlights.
- Displacement of more than 15,000 volunteers from all over Spain to the affected areas, who have been prevented from helping, attacking the fundamental right to free movement of people in the regions or municipalities of Sancerre, which is constitutionally protected. They have even been threatened with fines to prevent them from going to help and some have been fined for doing so.
- Collection points created in several towns in Spain to send aid to those affected.
- 7th November: Demonstration of a thousand people in the Plaza Mayor of Castellón to demand the resignation of Mazón.
- 12t November: Teresa Ribera blames Valencians for "not taking the alerts seriously".
- 17th November: _Cacerolada_ (demonstration making noise with pots and pans) from the balconies at 8:00 pm, called by the actress Paz Padilla through her social media.
- 30th November: A demonstration in Madrid is called by the Unitary Coordinator of Professional Firefighters.

#### Disinformation campaigns

- The television stations record from streets that are already clean, without showing the streets that are still in ruins and destruction.
- On Telecinco, a journalist appeared in front of a graffiti that said "Pedro HDP" (_Hijo de puta_, son of a bitch) and said that the graffiti said "Pedro DEP" (_Descansa en paz_, rest in peace).

#### Against Iker Jiménez, Ángel Gaitán and Rubén Gisbert

Iker Jiménez and Ángel Gaitán have been attacked by different programs, such as the case of El Gran Wyoming and their collaborator Dani Mateo, those who have not been involved in promoting balls, so that you can help them. come to donate to the people who have the most likes in the video, when what Ángel Gaitán is going to say about what he is donating likes to inform about the needs of each town. This hoax of the ajudes and the likes, now have several thousand communications, such as the case of OndaCero, Digital de León, El Periódico de Extremadura, Público, El Periódico de España and ElPlural.com, among others.

#### To obtain political gain

- Pedro Sánchez tries to force the main opposition party, Partido Popular, to approve the state budgets including aid for those affected by DANA.
- The PSOE spends money on advertising to clean up its image and shift the blame to the opposition.
- The left banned those who were also calling for Sánchez's resignation from participating in the demonstration on the 9th November.
- On 9th November, the following phrases appeared painted on Pedro Sánchez's face: "Gracias Pedro", "Solo Pedro salva al pueblo", "Este pueblo lo salvó Pedro".
- November 12: The Government uses the aid decree for the DANA to keep the current operational chief of the Police in place, who was about to retire.

#### To make illegal direct award of contracts

Aigües de Valéncia and the construction company Torrescamara receive awards for the reconstruction of the river infrastructures of the Júcar. The latter construction company is being hit by an alleged corruption case of the Ábalos stage.

#### By the real estate companies

On November 20, a real estate company is trying to collect personal details of those affected by the famine in the Orba (Alfafar) neighborhood, promising notary services and marketing the homes affected by the flood.

#### To promote the idea of climate change

The President of the Government Pedro Sánchez, traveled to Baku for the COP29 summit where he said:

thus relating the tragedy to climate change.

#### To generate chaos and then impose a new order

Prince Felipe VI pointed out the use of the tragedy to generate chaos:

Bea Talegón, mentioned in the Horizonte program, by Iker Jiménez that:

4th November: The general in charge of the UME, Francisco Javier Marcos, says that he needs authorization to act. However, on November 16, he reiterates that the UME acted on "its own initiative" and anticipated the orders they received from the Generalitat Valenciana.

## Infobox (flood)

- **image**: 2024-11-02 Voluntaris per netejar camí de Sedaví 05.jpg
- **caption**: Aftermath of the floods at Sedaví, Horta Sud, with many wooden structures destroyed, numerous trees downed, and much of the area covered with mud
- **name**: 2024 Spanish floods
- **duration**: –
- **total fatalities**: 229
- **missing**: 5
- **areas affected**: Spain (especially the Valencian Community, Castilla–La Mancha, and Andalusia)
- **cause**: Cold drop
- **damages**: ~3.5 billion euros (~$3.8 billion)