When the first signs that DANA was becoming a disaster in the eastern Iberian Peninsula were confirmed early Wednesday morning, media around the world paid attention to what was happening, especially in the Valencian Community. Three days after these first figures and images which already announced the worst, the international press remains focused on the news, on the tragedy.
The provisional toll of 205 deaths, the destruction and the solidarity of the populations with the victims have upset Europeans who follow the news through the press and social networks.
In France, a neighboring country, media monitoring of the floods in Spain is exhaustive and continues to make the front pages of most major newspapers this Friday.
Le Monde focused above all on Valencia, victim of the “ravages of climate change”, Le Parisien underlined that the country was immersed in the search for the missing, while Libération headlined “Spain hit by water”, with an image of hundreds of people. of cars piled up by the floods. Le Parisien has already opened its Thursday cover with an image of the collapse of the streets of Valencia and a two-word headline: “The tragedy.”
In addition to the written press, radio and television channels were also dedicated to covering the floods with special correspondents and live connections, but also to discussing whether France could suffer a similar phenomenon to the future and how it should prepare for it.
The British media are also closely following the terrible effects of DANA in the south-east of Spain, where many British residents have settled. This Friday, the tragedy once again made the front pages of English newspapers such as the tabloid Daily Mirror, which headlined “Trapped in the Nightmare” on a full page with a photo of Paiporta (Valencia).
In the same way, newspapers from all ideological spectrum broadcast their first images of the effects of dana, such as “The Guardian” or “The Times”, which agree that the number of deaths has already exceeded 150, or the Daily Telegraph. », which highlights the mobilization of the military in relief operations.
Meanwhile, major news networks, such as the BBC and Sky News, continue to open their hourly bulletins almost non-stop with the latest news on the trail of destruction left by the cold drop, mainly in Valencia, where some have been moved. the most famous journalists on television.
Spain “devastated”
Also in Italy, the disaster is among the main news of the main media. The press and television provide the latest information on events and have special correspondents on the ground. Major newspapers such as “La Repubblica”, “Corriere della Sera” and “La Stampa” have highlighted this issue on their covers and are closely following developments. Likewise, the devastation of the floods also opened the news on public television RAI, which continues to cover the situation extensively.
In Belgium, the French-speaking media Le Soir and the Flemish De Staandard published on the cover the “latest news” on the effects of dana in Valence.
Le Soir, in its digital version, offers a main article in plain text which describes Spain as “destroyed” and counts the dead and the troops deployed in the region. In addition, it has reports produced by a special envoy to the region. “In Chiva, its 17,000 inhabitants returned in the 19th century,” is the title of one of the works.
“When the water dries, anger rises”
The German media, for their part, closely followed the impact of the dana, addressing different angles, such as the relationship with climate change or the parallels with the flood which left 135 dead in 2021 in Ahrtal, in the west of Germany.
The German correspondents also echoed the feeling of abandonment of the inhabitants of the most affected areas, partly forced to resort to mutual aid, and their frustration with the authorities for lack of alerts and management of emergency operations. rescue and clean-up. “The water is drying up, but anger is growing,” says private German television channel NTV.
The correspondent of public television ARD underlines for his part that the debate on responsibilities is a “political dynamite”, since the disaster involves the powers of both the Government (AEMET) and the Generalitat (the alarm and warning system). protection in the event of a disaster).
Likewise, the Portuguese press maintains an emphasis on tragedy in its coverage and news reports.
From Moscow, Russian media are reporting daily on the consequences of the devastating floods, and images of the destruction appear on almost all news programs on major Russian state channels, such as Channel 1 and Rossiya 24.
“The macabre search of a small town”
Beyond Europe, in the United States, the mainstream media are also echoing the Spanish disaster. The New York Times and Washington Post newspapers followed the tragedy in the Valencian Community. That same Friday, the Times sent a mobile alert to its readers with a report from Paiporta. “The death toll from the floods in Spain stands at 205. Many died in Paiporta, where rescue teams continue to recover bodies from the mud,” says the text of the New York newspaper, which headlines the report: “The macabre search of a small town.
