Solidarity bicycles for those affected by Valencia floods help regain mobility: "It saved my life"

Without vehicles or public transport, residents of the Horta Sud county in Valencia, the epicenter of October's devastating floods, are left with few mobility options.

Faced with this issue, a group of volunteers have launched a solidarity initiative called 'Bicycles against mud' to help those affected by the floods.

So far, they have received around 3,000 applications for bicycles and have already delivered 600.

Zaida Leal, one recipient of the solidarity bikes, told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) "it saved my life." 

The project promoters explain that they receive donations of bikes from Catalonia and even from as far away as Poland or France, and they say they will continue the initiative until February.

“Being able to move around has become a basic necessity, donating a bike is one of the best things we can do,” Pablo Alcañiz, one of the people in charge, tells ACN.

Zaida Leal is a resident of Catarroja, one of the towns affected by the flood a month ago. She works in the center of Valencia and starts her shift 6 am. “There is no public transport and my car is still in the workshop," she explains.

Now, with the bicycle, she can reduce her journey by about 40 minutes. “I had stayed at friends’ houses to sleep, now I won’t have to depend on anyone,” she celebrates.

Leal is grateful for the initiative that has opened up new possibilities for her in trying circumstances, and believes it helps many people. “It is a time when buying a bike or a scooter is unfeasible, we have to pay for many things. This is a huge help, a joy for us,” she says.

Marc Antonio is also a resident of Catarroja. Together with his wife, they have taken two bikes. “We lost three cars and a motorbike because there are four of us at home and each one has lost their vehicle."

"Luckily, they have given us these. We work nearby and they have done us a huge favor,” he adds.

Monte is another Catarroja resident in a very similar situation. She lost her car in the ravine and so far she has accompanied her son on foot to school, and she hopes that now with a bicycle she can reduce the journey time.

“We live on the other side of town and it takes us half an hour to get to school with our little one,” she says.

For now, she says she won’t be able to buy a new vehicle, and that in the best case scenario, with money from insurance, she could buy a second-hand one.

Instead though, she sees the positive side of cycling: “It’s a way to stop polluting and do sports.”

Solidarity bicycles

The promoters of the solidarity initiative say that they have received bicycles from cultural associations, such as castellers or gegants groups of Catalonia, as well as NGOs from all over the country.

“We would like to go much faster because it is an emergency and people don’t know how to get around, but we are working very hard," Pablo Alcañiz says.

The bikes are delivered at the end of the week, on Thursdays and Fridays in the afternoon and Saturdays in the morning, to a warehouse in the Albal industrial estate.

“We have always been committed to sustainable mobility and with the disappearance of all types of vehicles, people have been left without mobility."

"The metro will be out of service for six months, and buses are always running at their limit,” Alcañiz indicates.

“We think that it is a historic opportunity and that there is a reality that is the use of the bike that perhaps they would not have considered, but now they will see that it is an alternative and a very useful means,” he concludes.