No gota fría aid in the north
Regional emergency package doesn't include Marina Alta
REGIONAL government funding to repair the damage caused by the recent gota fría will not find its way to the Marina Alta, despite its being battered by gale-force winds and over four inches of rain in one night.
A total of €10 million has been set aside to rebuild the 'ground zero' left by the September storms, and will be shared between 27 towns in the south of Alicante province and 16 in the province of Valencia.
Those areas which qualify – including Orihuela Costa (Vega Baja) and Ontinyent (Vall d'Albaida, Valencia province) – applied for financial help to cover 'extraordinary expenses' caused by 'natural disaster'.
But the Marina Alta is not considered to have suffered enough to be eligible.
Dénia's sports centre was all but destroyed by a tornado, and five days of chaos brought down trees, road signs and lamp posts, blocked streets and trapped cars across the north of Alicante province and the south of that of Valencia.
But elsewhere, homes have been wrecked and residents evacuated, cars washed away and seven people killed.
The Alicante province towns of Villena, Crevillent, Torrevieja, Redován, Rojales, San Fulgencio, Los Montesinos, Orihuela, San Miguel de Salinas, Rafal, Jacarilla, San Isidro, Pilar de la Horadada, Guardamar del Segura, Daya Nueva, Daya Vieja, Formentera del Segura, Granja de Rocamora, Dolores, Cox, Catral, Benejúzar, Algorfa, Bigastro, Callosa de Segura, Benferri and Almoradí will get funding.
In the province of Valencia, cash to help recover from the floods will go to Llutxent, Castelló de Rugat, Benigànim, Bocairent, L'Olleria, Aielo de Malferit, La Pobla del Duc, Albaida, Fontanar dels Alforins, Beniatjar, Agullent, Bellús and L'Atzeneta d'Albaida – all in the Vall d'Albaida, plus its capital, Ontinyent – and Moixent and La Font de la Figuera in the La Costera district, the capital of which is Xàtiva.
EMERGENCY money is now available for residents hit by the catastrophic floods in the Valencia region ‘which occurred between September 11 to 14’.
Regional councillor for justice and the interior Gabriel Bravo said the aid is for victims to buy replacement domestic appliances, as well as clothes and other necessities.
The regional government is sending civil servants to affected municipalities to help people fill in the necessary forms, which Sra Brava said are ‘simple’. They will receive an ‘initial payment’ of €1,500 per household.
Sra Bravo noted that this could be increased to €4,500 ‘depending on the damage that the flooding caused’, which has to be verified by an expert. The councillor explained that the Valencia government has made €13.5 million available for these emergency payments ‘so they can get back to normal as quickly as possible’.
Sra Bravo noted that officials from her department will be stationed in the town halls of the ‘eight villages and towns which have been worst hit’, although these were not named by the councillor in her press release.
“They will provide information for the victims and help them with the paperwork,” said Sra Bravo.
The councils of other municipalities which were not so badly affected by the storms will be able to ask for an ‘itinerant office’ to visit their town hall, she added.
Victims will have until October 14 to present their requests for the emergency aid.
They will have to present the title deed to their property or a rental contract.
These one-off payments are separate to the claims which residents can make via insurance policies covering their homes or vehicles – and funding which is being provided by the national government.
Almoradí town hall reported that three regional government civil servants will be available at the information point on the ground floor of the town hall to ‘process the emergency aid’ grants.
Dolores council noted that officials are available at the town hall from 09.00-14.00 and 15.00-17.00.
Formentera del Segura town hall said affected residents should go to the town hall with their passports to start the process to claim.
In San Fulgencio the council asked affected residents to ‘go to the town hall as soon as possible to give them all the information’.
“We are drawing up a list to send to the regional government so their officials can inspect each affected house and the appropriate aid can be asked for,” explained the town hall.
A central management office for the crisis will also be set up in Orihuela city.
“We are not going to skimp on resources to help people repair damage,” said Sra Bravo.
As part of the aid plan approved by the regional government last Friday in Orihuela, they have made €10 million available for town CELEBRATED astronaut – and minister for science and innovation – Pedro Duque visited Alicante this week ‘to start the process’ of setting up an investigation centre on the ageing process in the city.
The aim of the project is to establish technological developments which improve the quality of life of elderly people.
A regional government spokesman noted that an international scientific committee is being put together to define the parameters of the project.
Regional councillor for halls to ‘help pay bills which they have run up due to the floods’.
National government cash
The national government has approved €774 million in emergency funding for natural disasters which have occurred around Spain since April 1 this year.
The cash will cover this month’s floods in Valencia region, Murcia and other areas of Spain – as well as forest fires during the summer.
The money is available to ‘repair homes, shops, farms and infrastructure’.
A Cabinet meeting in Madrid on Friday gave the official declaration of ‘zones seriously affected by a public emergency’ to flood hit areas in Alicante province, Murcia and the south of Valencia province.
Different government departments will be responsible for processing the aid.
The ministry for the interior will manage ‘damage suffered by residents to their properties and belongings’.
Reductions in property tax (IBI) will also be available, along with tax breaks for the self-employed and affected businesses.
The ministry for public works will hand out grants to repair infrastructure and roads and the ministry for the ecological transition will ‘authorise works to restore damage on the coast’. science and innovation, Carolina Pascual joined with Sr Duque to preside the first meeting on Monday.
Their aim was to ‘set out the bases to create a robust scientific project’, which counts on the support of the government and will be ‘pioneering’.
The spokesman explained that they will ‘unite the investigations of many scientific networks which are working in this field’.
Sra Pascual said they will make further progress on the project in the coming months.