We will now see the PP denying its responsibility, as in the Valencia metro accident. Like in Madrid residences. They will tell us that they died of natural causes, that their death could not be avoided, that they were going to die anyway. But no. There are ideological and economic causes. There are political and economic leaders.
Natural disasters cannot be avoided, but their consequences can. Or at least try. This has not been the case in the Valencian Community. On Tuesday at 7:30 a.m., the National Meteorological Agency declared the red level of extreme risk for DANA. At 11:50 a.m., the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar was already warning of overflows and considerable flooding in its canals. State Emergency Services issued a hydrological alert at 12:20 p.m. Noon again. But at 1 p.m., the president of the Valencian Generalitat, Carlos Mazón (PP), took advantage of an event, not even a specific appearance, to shed light on the matter and announce that the forecast is only 6 p.m., the storm will take place. calmed down and passed for a long time. The opposite happened. At that point, all hell broke loose.
Mazón did not appear again. He did not consider it appropriate. Nor to activate alerts on the phones of Valencians until 8 p.m. in the Valencian capital and 9 p.m. in the most affected areas. When the chaos was total. As roads collapsed, cars and trucks were swept away, floods inundated businesses and homes, hundreds of people fought for their lives, and dozens went missing. The images we saw are Dantesque. Elderly people in a residence parked in wheelchairs as water covers them above the knees, drivers standing on the roof of their cars to escape, workers sheltering on the roofs of their businesses. No one warned them, no one told them to go home. They were forced to continue working. Capitalism does not stop even in the face of the universal flood.
The Valencian Government only requests help from the Military Emergency Unit after 8 p.m. The president only showed up in the morning when the death toll was still around twenty. Very quickly, the numbers skyrocket. First 50, then 62, then 70, as I write these lines, 95. We fear there will be many, many more. This is the worst cold spell of the century and the Generalitat has not taken the necessary measures. Mazón deletes the tweet in which he said that at 6 p.m. the storm would subside. But he cannot delete the tweet in which the PP boasted of having abolished the Valencian Emergency Unit, the service created to accelerate and coordinate the response to disasters. Just what was needed. It was a project in development and they closed it. The PP called it a “chiringuito” and Vox called it “an idea” of Ximo Puig. This event could have saved lives.
Its budget amounted to nine million euros. Its removal left 187 part-time firefighters on the streets. Meanwhile, Vox’s culture minister, former bullfighter Vicente Barrera, is skyrocketing spending on bullfighting and awarding up to 300,000 euros in grants to a Madrid bullfighting foundation. Valencia becomes the community that spends the most on bullfighting exhibitions in all of Spain. I imagine they would think about putting out fires with balaclavas and fighting DANA with flags. Ole and Ole. “He who sows cuttings collects the ashes,” said the Valencian forest firefighters during the last fire campaign. Today, they are not ashes, they are corpses.
There are those responsible. The PP governs with Vox, which denies climate change and proposes abolishing certain weather agencies. They did not pay attention to AEMET’s warnings. They ignored emergencies. They did not alert the population. They did not force businesses to close. Some forced their workers to continue. Among them, giants like Ikea and Mercadona. Video of a supermarket delivery truck driver being saved by firefighters has gone viral across the country. Juan Roig’s company forced its workers to continue delivering during the storm. Today Mercadona offered its condolences to the families of those who lost their lives, yesterday it sent its workers to risk their lives.
Today the mayor of Valencia, the popular María José Catalá, thanked him for distributing food to those affected. Today the PP also requested the closure of the session of the Congress of Deputies as a sign of mourning, but they were the ones who closed an emergency service. Now comes the storm of hypocrisy. We will now see the PP denying its responsibility, as in the Valencia metro accident. Like in Madrid residences. They will tell us that they died only of natural causes, that their deaths could not be avoided, that they were going to die anyway. But no. There are also ideological and economic causes. There are political and economic leaders. We must demand accountability.
