DANA Disaster in Spain: Government Failure and Citizen Solidarity in the Face of Catastrophic Flooding

Pedro Sanchez’s government comes under fire (or mud) after failures in managing the DANA crisis in Valencia. The community comes together instead (Free Malaysia Today).

In an unprecedented sight, parts of Valencia, Spain received the equivalent of a year's rainfall in a matter of a few hours on October 30. The DANA is a meteorological phenomenon that has plagued Spain over the past decades. It occurs when a dome of cold, polar air is isolated from the rest of the atmosphere and sinks towards the tropics. When this air mass cools and comes into contact with the warm, humid air of the Mediterranean, the combination is explosive and leads to profound atmospheric instability and torrential rainfall. The collision of these two opposing airflows creates powerful storms rich with rain, wind, and sometimes catastrophic flooding.

This year, the DANA was especially brutal. It unleashed devastating torrential rains, resembling a tsunami, while tearing through communities and reducing to dust and rubble anything in its path. The intensity and volume of the rain overwhelmed ditches and gullies, turning streams into rivers and streets into whitewater. The DANA left thousands trapped and over two hundred dead.

In the aftermath of this complete destruction, with streets and roads filled with mud, upended vehicles, and collapsed infrastructure, the government’s readiness to act has been seriously questioned. The overall lack of organization observed is the consequence of the lack of collaboration between Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and President of the Valencian Generalitat Carlos Mazón. Their inability to effectively deal with the crisis, especially due to Sanchez’s refusal to deploy police and military forces to Valencia until four days after the start of the DANA, has crowned their leadership a fatal failure. Due to the opposing political ideologies of central and local governments, some have the suspicion that the lack of action is intentional so as to place the blame on their respective political enemies. Sanchez’s minority government has been accused of such behavior repeatedly since the unleashing of the DANA, based on his refusal to delay the congressional vote on his potentially monopolistic control over Spanish television. Moreover, Sanchez’s latest decision to include economic aid to Valencia in the national budget, which has hitherto been rejected by the opposition, seems to be a clear manipulation tactic to guarantee the approval of his political aims. These political agendas are hence increasing doubts regarding the current Spanish political system, with the left advocating for the imposition of a federal government, while the right argues for a more central system. 

Members of the military have indeed protested that the government's tardiness in dispatching them has directly exacerbated the consequences of the DANA in many areas. However, frustration at the handling of the disaster is not exclusive to the military. On November 3, during an official visit to the affected regions, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez faced the raw anger and desperation of Valencia's residents. Mourning men and women swarmed the Prime Minister, hurling mud and sticks, and pelting his car with stones in a riot that caught King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia in its crosshairs. Yet, instead of following in Sanchez’s muddy footsteps by caving into popular anger and running away from the scene, the royal couple chose to dig in their heels and hear the flood victims' heart-wrenching stories, crying with them and bringing words of consolation.

There is widespread agreement within the Spanish community that the people saved themselves. Regular citizens went to their local supermarkets and drove hours to food collection points. They donated overwhelming amounts of money to NGOs. They took trains and buses to Valencia. More than 10,000 volunteers have answered the call in a stirring display of civic pride and camaraderie to assist in the relief effort. In a demonstration of strength and compassion, the citizens appeared with shovels, rakes, and an unstoppable spirit. The lack of government support has thus been overshadowed, and the regular citizen has indeed proven the extent of the potential for collective action in the face of the unimaginable.