The Valencian publishing sector was strongly affected by the floods caused by DANA which shook the territory two weeks ago. Bookstores completely destroyed, warehouses flooded, editorial funds lost and distribution problems, not to mention the human damage.
In Horta Sud, there are a dozen bookstores affected by the floods, which are trying to recover as best they can. One of them, Somnis de Paper, belongs to Jorge Cabezas, who was hit three times: a resident of Benetússer, a municipality that continues to unclog the streets, he is also a bookseller in the same town and editor-in-chief of Fuera de Paper. Itinerary. The flood, through the Chiva ravine, washed away everything.
The reconstruction work barely leaves him time to answer questions. The responses show the scale of the tragedy: “We have had no (human) losses, which is already a lot,” he said on the other end of the phone, in an audio note. The bookseller and publisher has lost practically all his funds and does not know how to face the reconstruction. A few days later, in a new conversation with this newspaper, the support received appears as a boost: “People are coming forward, everyone wants to help”, whether through purchases, financial contributions or construction work. cleaning. Many volunteers went to town, he said. The first days, he says, they didn’t know what to do with the bookstore, but the outpouring of solidarity seems to have worked emotionally. However, bookstores must combine specific assistance, such as calls for online purchase with the request for assistance, which require a formal cessation of activity.
From the same city as the leaders are the authors Cristina Durán and Miguel Ángel Giner, national design prize, with the razed workshop. The couple and their two daughters live on the ground floor and have converted the adjacent premises into a work studio and coworking for other creators, the Crane Studio. They continue to collect mud from the workshop, as they told elDiario.es nine days after the tragedy began.
To channel aid to bookstores, the Gremi de Llibrers has created an account on which to collect donations. In publications on social networks, they warn that many victims, like La Muixeranga (Paiporta), do not have a website and that it can be complex to opt for a solidarity purchase if the establishment does not have infrastructure. The Spanish Confederation of Corporations and Associations of Bookstores (CEGAL) has also launched a campaign so that bookstores that indicate this can allocate 10% of the amount of sales on Monday, November 11 to their colleagues concerned.
Thirteen days after the storms, the damage assessment is still being prepared. The Associació d’Editorials del País Valencià estimates that 29 publishers are directly affected. They represent 35% of their partners and they are still quantifying the loss. Added to this is the uncertainty of the Christmas campaign, which began in November and which, for publishers who do not work with textbooks, represents almost 40% of a year’s sales. There are also 16 historic libraries and archives that suffered damage. The president of the AEPV, Africa Ramírez, who recognizes the uncertainty, sends a strong message: “The publishing sector is not alone”. The unions will turn to them.
Many publishers had their distribution between Riba-Roja and Paiporta-Picanya, in their industrial areas, with Gea Llibres and Sendra-Marco as the main victims. The funds are virtually destroyed, as the shared images show. One of the workers informally recounts how he and his colleagues saved themselves by going to the upper floor of the warehouse and blowing up the vending machine to get something to eat while waiting to leave the industrial area. The ingenuity of many workers allowed them to avoid being locked out and saved other colleagues.
The Sembra Llibres publishing house saved its offices, but lost a good part of its funds. Only those that were in the Catalunya distributor are kept. At the moment, they have had to delay a few releases and they don’t know what will happen to the books they have just published. Mercè Pérez, editor-in-chief, explains that in addition to the material damage, there is uncertainty about future campaigns, shared throughout the union. She regrets that there are colleagues who have suffered attacks on their own flesh and recommends “responding to the emergency, by helping other colleagues through mutual support initiatives”. In his words, there is some guilt of feeling good personally and fearing for his business, which is his livelihood. “It’s a strange feeling,” he admits. This is a collective unease and uncertainty that mental health experts believe will materialize among those affected.
Reconstruction plan
The Ministry of Culture has launched the Plan for the reconstruction of Valencian culture and the areas affected by DANA, with direct aid to cinemas and bookstores and a new line for the reconstruction of the publishing sector, performing arts and music, even if the allocation will be known in the coming days. Minister Ernest Urtasun indicated that the National Emergency and Risk Management Plan in Cultural Heritage has been activated, whose coordinator has already organized human and technical resources (architects and restorers) so that they can be mobilized when communities need it.
This plan will develop tasks for evacuation and in situ protection of property, assessment of damage, carrying out the first emergency tasks and a medium and long term heritage restoration plan.
