Latest news Great need after flood drama in Spain - aid package put together

One week after the devastating "storm of the century" in eastern Spain, which claimed more than 200 lives, the disaster area continues to present a bleak picture.

Despite the recovery and clean-up work now in full swing, many roads in the more than 60 severely affected municipalities in the Valencia region are still covered in mud. Garbage, broken furniture and piled-up cars were everywhere, as the cameras of TV station RTVE and other media showed.

At least there has been some good news for the flood victims since the floods and landslides: the central government has announced an aid package totaling 10.6 billion euros. The planned direct aid and guarantees for households and companies are only "a first step", emphasized Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

Bad stench at the "ground zero" of the tragedy

The need remains: "The stench is still very bad here," said an RTVE reporter in Paiporta, not far from the provincial capital Valencia. The community with around 27,000 inhabitants and around 70 fatalities is considered the "ground zero" of the tragedy. Residents there and in other almost completely destroyed villages reported that even more help was needed. "There are already rats," complained one man in an interview with RTVE. Others affected are crying and ranting. Paiporta mayor Maribel Albalat asked above all for "more heavy machinery". It was "very difficult to cope with the chaos".

Meanwhile, the official death toll has been revised from 217 to 215 - 211 bodies have been recovered so far in the province of Valencia alone, which is also popular with German holidaymakers. It is assumed that the death toll will continue to rise as there are still many missing people. An official figure is still not available.

Search for missing persons only below the surface

The search for victims is now concentrating on underground car parks and other flooded underground facilities such as tunnels and passages. There are no more bodies above ground, it was reported. The authorities fear that some victims may have been washed into estuaries or the Mediterranean, as RTVE reported. Since Tuesday, search and rescue operations have been supported by a navy amphibious ship.

Despite all the concern for the missing, the focus is now increasingly on the Madrid aid package and the question of whether it is sufficient. The previous evening, the regional government had even demanded aid commitments from Madrid amounting to over 30 billion euros. This amount is roughly equivalent to the region's entire annual budget.

On Tuesday last week, some towns in Valencia received as much rain in just a few hours as they usually get in a year. In the meantime, the sun is shining in the disaster area - and it is expected to stay that way for the next few days.

SDA