The leadership of the European parliamentary group of the Greens-European Free Alliance has become the first official representation of the European parliament to visit ground zero devastated by DANA on October 29 with the tragic death toll of 223 in Valencia alone.
Invited by Compromís MEP and member of the group Vicent Marzá, they focused their tour mainly on Catarroja and the rice fields located around the town’s port in Albufera. Among the members of the delegation, the group’s current spokesperson, Bas Eickhout, the former Environment Commissioner, Virginijus Sinkevičius, stood out, as well as the MEPs Diana Riba, Ana Miranda and Roccu Garoby.
Before starting the tour of the damaged areas, the professor of Physical Geography at the University of Valencia, Francesca Segura Beltrán, explained to the participants the causes and consequences of the recent floods in Valencia. The debate focused on DANA, a meteorological phenomenon that involves masses of cold polar air that generate intense storms by interacting with the warm, humid air of the Mediterranean. Dr. Segura explained how a combination of factors such as watershed management, river ravines, regional orography and urban planning contributed to the disaster. An introductory lecture that included cartographic maps and analysis.
Subsequently, the delegation moved to the area around the port of Catarroja, where they were able to appreciate first-hand the magnitude of the disaster, with devastated rice fields and still a strong stench of sludge in the air. When asked by elDiario.es during the visit, Marzà commented that the idea of the visit was for the MEPs to see first-hand “the reality of Valencians who have been abandoned, especially by the administration of the Generalitat Valenciana, which is responsible. of 223 deaths and that two months later the towns and protected areas are still really affected.”
According to Marzà, in addition to raising awareness, “the objective of the visit is to be able to work in the European Parliament with more measures, measures like the one we have already achieved, which is that 5,000 million euros of European funds can be allocated to the reconstruction of the areas affected by DANA and that from Compromís we propose that they dedicate themselves to rebuilding better, that is why we are also going to visit Alzira as an example of good reconstruction practices to prevent these catastrophes from being repeated and to adapt to climate change.”
The former European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevičius, asked if he considers that there has been a problem of climate denialism in the management of DANA, commented that “everything begins with the management of the crisis and this is important at the local, regional and national level.” and added: “When more than 223 lives are lost it is a tragedy, therefore, it all starts with crisis management. You can believe in climate change, in God or not believe in anything, but you must assume responsibility for managing crises. Regarding the climate crisis, it is not the first time that there are cold drops. If it happened in Poland, everyone would be speechless, but here it has already happened and, therefore, we must learn to use the natural landscape to prevent these phenomena from reproducing. We have heard that some talk about paving some boulevards, but that cannot be a solution. “We must try to disconnect this ideological battle and create a safe environment that protects people’s lives.”
The group’s spokesperson, Bas Eickhout, commented on the visit that “many institutions have failed citizens and there has been more political fighting over who is responsible instead of taking care of the people, something that has shocked me greatly, and is a problem European, not just Spanish or Valencian.” Eickhout stated that they will ensure in the European Parliament that there is “more funding available and that it is used in a way that we are better prepared to prevent this from happening again, that adaptation to climate change is on the table of national and regional governments ”.
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