The fateful DANA that left 222 dead in Valencia has highlighted the danger of urbanizing in flood-prone areas. The Valencian Community has legislation that identifies them and expressly prohibits building in them, although there are always exceptions.
This is the Territorial Action Plan on Flood Risk Prevention of the Valencian Community (Patricova), approved in 2003 and reviewed in 2015. Broadly speaking, this plan prohibits the execution of new urban developments in flood-prone areas, unless they were already approved before the regulations came into force, in which case they had to provide a series of corrective measures to avoid possible episodes of flooding.
Furthermore, in 2018, the Botanical Government approved the Territorial Action Plan for the Green Infrastructure of the Coast (Pativel) which, among other things, involves the declassification of 7,500 hectares in the vicinity of the coast where construction is prohibited. . Of those 7,500 hectares, 2,562 would be in flood zones as established by Patricova, as can be seen. in the Pativel cartographic viewerand of them 1,137 hectares were already classified as developable. In this way, if the Pativel were to decline, it could be built again on this surface (the equivalent of 11.3 million square meters), considered floodable, given that it was already developable land before the Pativel and the Patricova.
According to the data collected by this newspaper, of the 1,137 developable hectares in a flood zone, 297 are located in the province of Castellón, 477 in Valencia and 675 in Alicante. The most affected municipalities would be Alcalà de Xivert with 193 hectares, Santa Pola with 109, Cullera with 64 and Orpesa with 94.
The Valencian Government of the PP chaired by Carlos Mazón plans to annul the Pativel with different regulatory changes. On the one hand, it has already left a part without effect by recently approving by decree the constructions 200 meters from the coast, when the Pativel limited it to 500 meters and with a series of volumetry conditions. On the other hand, the approval of a Valencian Coastal Law, the reform of the Law of Territorial Planning, Urban Planning and Landscape (LOTUP), which in summary aims to give more powers and facilities to build to developers, is in process. After the DANA episode, it remains to be seen how all this new regulations, aimed at nullifying the Botanist’s protectionist legislation, will address the situation of developable and flood-prone lands.
In this regard, the socialist deputy and former Territorial Councilor who promoted the Pativel, María José Salvador, commented that this legislation was “an essential supra-municipal instrument to protect the Valencian coast after the urban pressure it suffered for 20 years” and added: “ The decree that allows the construction of tertiary services 200 meters from the coast and the draft Coastal Law represent the end of the coastline protection plan. It is inconceivable that the Pativel is not maintained because it is an essential instrument to maintain rationality in the uses of the territory and protect citizens from the risk of floods.”
Urban plans in flood-prone areas
In addition to protecting land that could be developed on the coast until then, the Pativel gave various projects that were already in process a period of five years to begin construction. That deadline was met in May 2023. Otherwise, the regulations require that the land, until now developable, be converted into protected rural land, which would therefore not accommodate the construction of real estate. These are the integrated action programs (PAI) of Torreblanca Golf, Playa del Puig, Bega de Cullera, El Brosquil, Mareny de Tavernes, Rafelcaid in Gandia and Cala Mosca in Orihuela, which add up to a total area of 5.4 million square meters and would involve the construction of 18,000 homes.
Some of these projects are also in flood zones. One case is the PAI Sant Gregori Golf in Borriana, which foresees the development of 2.5 million square meters of land, with some 6,000 homes and an 18-hole golf course. The City Council approved last October in a plenary session (before DANA), without the opposition of any political group, to directly assume the urbanization of the Sant Gregori area that affects more than 2.5 million pending square meters to develop on the coast of the municipality. In this regard, municipal sources have assured that the PAI was approved before the Patricova came into force and that it includes a plan to reduce the risk in the event of floods, specifically, a canal to drain the Anna River in the event of a flood.
The El Puig development is also located in a flood zone. The execution of this PAI, known as ‘La Casota’, will involve the construction of between 400 and 450 homes, of which 200 would be in towers, 200 in semi-detached houses and about 25 single-family homes. Municipal sources have also assured that the project has the mandatory plan with corrective measures to mitigate the risk of flooding. We will see if a DANA like the one on October 29 in Valencia occurs.
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