'We'll need you for many months, but let's plan and think,' says resident affected by Valencia floods

Valencia, south of Catalonia, is still recovering after fatal floods at the end of October. Nearly two weeks later, residents affected by the DANA storm are grateful for the outpouring of support but call for a sustainable plan as aid "will be needed for many months."

Residents urge not to be forgotten, though they say they’ve received so many donations that the system has become overwhelmed. Recently, locals asked for donations to be paused, explaining they are “totally overwhelmed,” Toni Valero, spokesperson for the Groups Coordination Unit, told the Catalan News Agency (ACN). Receiving and organizing donations “is difficult and time-consuming,” though they are all very “grateful.”

In the hardest-hit areas, residents like Amàlia Esquerdo, from the Parc Alcosa neighborhood in Alfafar, urge entities, organizations, and institutions to "plan and think about how to fix the issue."

She stresses that a return to normality "will take time" as "the Valencian metropolitan area is completely devastated."

Following the storm, dozens of vehicles and trucks carrying volunteers arrived at Parc Alcosa, where many organized the volunteer efforts while hundreds cleaned streets and homes.

Volunteers gathered cleaning supplies like bleach and washing powder and removed used masks and gloves. After days without power, electricity has returned to some areas, with Lourdes, a resident who lost her home, celebrating that they could now "start using their washing machines."

130,000 demonstrate

Days after the floods, around 130,000 people, according to the Spanish government, took to the streets in Valencia city center, calling for the Valencian president, Carlos Manzón, to step down for his handling of the DANA storm.

The march started at the City Council square, and protests were organized in Alacant and Elx, two of the biggest cities in the Valencia region.

Almost 150 groups called on to take to the streets in what was considered a "without a doubt a massive demonstration," gathering "many of those affected, who walked to Valencia," Anna Oliver, a spokesperson, told the Catalan News Agency.

Organizers had planned for a silent protest to honor the more than 200 victims, but everyone "felt the indignation," Oliver added and chanted against Mazón.

During the protest, many threw mud at the government headquarters, with police having to intervene, attacking many protestors.

The People's Party, the political force of Mazón, criticized the demonstration, saying that "Catalan groups in the so-called 'Catalan Countries' came to protest and collapse Valencia," a text published on the PP's account on X, formerly Twitter, reads.

"They do not care about victims, only politics," the text adds.