Catalonia to review activities in flood-prone areas after deadly Valencia floods

The Catalan government will review all economic and residential activities in areas designated as flood-prone.

The announcement was made by president Salvador Illa on Tuesday, the day after the 'cold drop' or DANA, a unique weather phenomenon that occurs every fall and brings torrential rains, hit many parts of Catalonia.

With attention on the recent situation in Valencia, where the DANA led to more than 200 deaths and devastated vast areas, the Catalan government now wants to be "better prepared" for these extreme weather events.

To that end, president Illa announced that he would update the Civil Protection plan that is activated during such episodes.

Although the plan "worked well" during Monday's torrential rains in Catalonia, Illa noted that "there is still room to improve protocols and update resources."

"We must act with maximum precaution," he said, stressing that the impact of DANA across Spain has highlighted the need for society to be more resilient to the effects of climate change.

According to Civil Protection, more than 705,000 people in Catalonia - about 9% of the population - live in flood-prone areas. Of these, 110,000 live in high-risk areas.

This vulnerability is mainly due to the fact that 15% of the urbanized land in Catalonia is located in such areas.

In fact, Catalonia has 521 towns that are required by law to have a flood plan, but six out of ten have either outdated plans or none at all, according to a March report by the Catalan News Agency (ACN).

Illa said the government would provide technical and financial assistance to all municipalities to update their flood control plans within a "reasonable" timeframe.

"We know it will not be done in a week or a year," he said, but "anything we fail to do today will cost us dearly in the future," he added.

Illa also announced economic aid for all those affected by the dana in Catalonia.