Mohammed Taha runs towards his companions in Paiporta. A ray of sunlight crosses his torso, illuminating half of his face and his smile, shy, but from ear to ear. In his hands he holds a laminated flag. “A neighbor gave it to me,” he explains to the rest of the Moroccan workers. Curious, he lifts the laminated flap and stretches out the badge. Suddenly, the flashes of the sun’s rays highlight the colors of the Valencian ‘senyera’: red, blue and yellow. The young man originally from the city of Kenitra in Morocco asks for help: “We are going to hang it on the truck next to the Moroccan flag,” he explains. Everyone approaches, there is no shortage of hands. They pose, smile, photo and return to work.
Just a few days after DANA hit dozens of municipalities in Valencia, 36 trucks specialized in unblocking headed towards Spain, passing through Motril, from different points in neighboring Morocco. Since then, around 120 people, including personnel, translators and coordinators, have been deployed in more than 15 municipalities, draining between 150 and 200 garages.
“The Moroccan workers have removed an amount of mud that would fill up to 50 Olympic swimming pools,” explains Gonzalo Sanz Ruiz, group coordinator of the Joint Civil Protection Commission, from one of the operational centers. “Morocco has deployed the largest humanitarian aid contingency in the recent history of Spain,” adds the Civil Protection representative.
The group of Moroccan operators is made up of civilian personnel from private and subcontracted companies in Morocco who usually work in the town halls of different locations such as Tangier, Agadir, Casablanca, Tetouan or Fez, among others. In Valencia, in the areas affected by DANA, the group is jointly coordinated between Civil Protection of Spain of the Ministry of the Interior dependent, in this case, on the delegations of the Government of Ceuta and the military representative on behalf of Morocco, Colonel Jamaleddin Elmegnouni.
Honor, pride and response
Mohammed Alouch is from Rabat and, after almost two months of work, he knows no fatigue: “We have come to work and help Spain, not to rest,” he explains, as best he can, over the sound of his truck’s engine. “Following the instructions of His Majesty the King of Morocco, Mohamed VI, to help the people and those affected, we do so with great pride,” he adds.
“We have been well received, both by the authorities and the population. We had yet to help in the same way that Spain assisted Morocco after the earthquake in the Al Houz region in September 2023,” he insists. With this last, Alouch smiles and, later, Colonel Elmegnouni fondly remembers the Spanish assistance in the areas affected by the earthquake. “Since we have been deployed in Valencia, we have met some of the members of the Military Emergency Unit who worked with us in Morocco,” explains one of the Moroccan operators.
Morocco’s daily life before DANA
The day starts at 9:30 in the morning at the Alfafar operations center. Inside one of the barracks, a satellite map indicates those places where the Moroccan workers have passed: “We have worked both in the zero zones such as Catarroja, Benetússer, Paiporta or Sedaví, even in the most surrounding places such as Algemesí, Cheste, Chiva or l’Alcúdia”, explains Abselam Abdel-lah, Ceuta member of the Joint Civil Protection Commission.
The afternoon before each work day, the Moroccan mission receives instructions from the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi). “We convert the orders into an Excel document that coordinates which sectors are going to work, where and how many operators and trucks are going to assist in each municipality or required affected area,” explains Sanz Ruiz.
The Sedaví Town Hall square is one of the morning work settings. Near the parking lot, two stories deep, three young people drag two hoses, one for unclogging and the other for absorption. One of them turns on the pumps from the control panel. The sludge travels at full speed from the bottom to the tank. “Each tuba is divided in half. They carry water in the back and are empty in the front. For the empty part, they absorb liquid waste, while they use pressurized water hoses to remove mud and unclog drains full of mud,” adds the Civil Protection representative.
In the underground floors, a young Moroccan man from Kenitra drags and moves away various items that hinder the flow of the mud. The light from the headlamp gives a glimpse of the height to which the water continues to reach, two months later. The elevator is still flooded. “A truck, if it has good suction conditions, takes around 40 minutes to clear each point,” they explain from Civil Protection.
When the clock strikes 1:00 p.m., the distribution of the food begins. In Paiporta, Mohammed Taha and the rest of the workers take out a dozen bags from a white van that momentarily fill the streets of the town with an intense smell of spices. “How hungry,” says one of them. On a low wall splashed with mud sits one of the workers from Casablanca. Inside the bag: a container of spiced chicken with vegetables, salad, Moroccan bread, water and Orangina soda. “Bssaha” (“Take advantage” in Spanish), he shouts to another colleague.
After eating, the work of cleaning sewers and flooded garages resumes. This time, from Benetússer, where one of the trucks is parked in front of the garage doors of a residential building. Two blocks away, a couple of Moroccan workers clean the streets on foot. With the supply that awaits one of the trucks, they expel pressurized water as they travel the streets.
When they turn off the vehicle’s engines, an older woman looks out from the third-floor balcony: “Are you leaving yet?” she asks. To which the young Moroccan smiles, while Fátima, the translator who accompanies this sector, runs to assist him: “No, ma’am, they are just going to load the truck with more water,” he responds. The septuagenarian’s face radiates relief.
A historic cooperation agreement
Relations between Morocco and Spain in the field of Civil Protection are based on an Agreement signed in Rabat in 1987. This agreement established a framework for technical cooperation and mutual assistance between both countries, as well as the creation of a Joint Civil Protection Commission , made up of representatives of both nations.
In addition to assistance in the face of natural disasters and humanitarian aid, the General Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergencies of Spain also collaborates closely with counterpart organizations in Morocco in other areas such as the Strait Crossing Operation, carrying out drills and exercises, as well as actions concrete in firefighting. On the other hand, an administrative agreement signed between the ministries of the Interior of both kingdoms promotes collaboration in training between their respective National Civil Protection Schools.
Morocco’s offer was one of the first to arrive after the floods of October 29. After confirmation by the Generalitat Valenciana, the Ministry of the Interior prepared the incorporation and movements of the Moroccan operatives. Although the end of the aid was scheduled for before Christmas, in mid-December, King Mohamed VI decreed the extension of the contingent’s stay until January 10.
In addition to Morocco, other neighboring countries such as Portugal and France have also participated in the provision of emergency assistance through the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism.
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