The recent DANA that hit the Valencian Community left in its wake a devastating trail of human losses, missing And serious damage. Torrential rains and overflowing rivers affected thousands of people, destroying homes and infrastructure in their wake. Faced with the scale of the tragedy, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced last Tuesday a aid program for affected areaswith the aim of providing a “social shield” to families and businesses affected by the disaster. However, Podemos, the party led by Ione Belarra, demands that these funds not be financed by public funds but through sanctions against large companies who, in their opinion, acted irresponsibly during the emergency.
Last Monday afternoon, Podemos sent its request directly to the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, demanding that companies that kept their employees at work despite weather alerts be sanctioned. During a congressional press conference, Belarra explicitly mentioned companies such as Mercadona, Inditex, Ikea and Coca-Colacalling them “criminal enterprises” and suggesting that their decisions contributed to endangering the safety of their workers.
Declare the state of alarm to guarantee cleaning and debris removal tasks and to build a social shield that protects people. To cover this, exemplary sanctions were imposed on companies like Mercadona, which forced people to go to work. pic.twitter.com/4vjBUqNZut
– Ione Belarra (@ionebelarra) November 4, 2024
According to the purple formation, Sanctions against these companies are “essential” to finance aid measures to the victims so that they “pay for what they did”. This position is the culmination of a strategy that Podemos has been developing since last Wednesday, when it presented a non-law proposal to investigate and impose fines on companies which, according to the party, should have stopped their activities at the first alerts. However, Belarra went further to name the companies she proposed to be investigated, saying it was a matter of “political accountability” and that these companies, which she accused , should be “severely sanctioned”. put your business interests ahead of the safety of your employees.
The solidarity work of the companies accused by Belarra
Ikea, one of the companies mentioned by Belarra and his training, transformed during DANA its store in Alfafarin Valencia, in a shelter for more than 700 people They needed a safe place to shelter. According to the Swedish company, those affected not only found protection in its facilities, but also had access to access to food, blankets, rest areas and electricitywhich was essential in the worst hours of the disaster. Likewise, since last Friday, the Ikea store in Valencia has ceded its space to the Emergency Operations Department to become a Media Reception Center (CRM).
Mercadona, Juan Roig’s supermarket chain, actively collaborated with those affected by DANA from the start. The company donated basic necessities to town halls and shelters in the hardest hit neighborhoods of Valencia. In addition, Mercadona has worked in coordination with entities such as Cáritas and food banks in the province to provide help where it is needed most. Among its actions are the purchase and distribution of 1,200 pallets of drinking water from its supplier Bronchales to supply the affected communities.
In turn, Amancio Ortega, founder of Inditex, has also demonstrated his social commitment in this situation. Ortega has donated two million euros to the Spanish Red Cross and Cáritasin addition to offering basic necessities and clothing for people who lost their belongings in the floods.
