Over 220 people died in the mudslides in Valencia in October 2024, and many lost their livelihoods. The government has provided 14 billion euros in emergency aid. But what is the situation for small and medium-sized businesses today?
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00:00120,000 cars destroyed, infrastructure that's still partially paralyzed, and soldiers and
00:07civilians still cleaning up the streets.
00:10In the middle of Ground Zero in Catarroja, workers are still cleaning the equipment and
00:15manufacturing halls.
00:16The 40 injection molding machines at automotive supplier Industrias Alegre stand frozen.
00:23All of these machines, they're just scrap.
00:28Technicians from all over Europe are trying to get other machines up and running.
00:36The flood was devastating for us, here and in all other towns in the area.
00:43And the flood completely paralyzed our business.
00:47The mud reached nearly two meters high.
00:52The flood doesn't seem to have caused any damage at this logistics company, but the
00:57boss wants to show us another warehouse.
01:05The way there resembles a war zone.
01:07Photos and videos from the hours after the flood show how destructive the sea of mud
01:13was.
01:15This is almost three meters.
01:17That's how high the water was.
01:22But people are once again working here.
01:25It's not quite like before.
01:30We have goods here that are blocked because the customer has to decide what they want
01:34to do.
01:36Some are still good, but we need to reach an agreement.
01:41And here is where goods were that have just gone out.
01:44We have to clean, clean, clean.
01:49These solar panels from China are also blocked, but Juan Castellano feels that they are a
01:53relatively minor problem.
01:57If you have money, you can keep going because you can make decisions quickly, but if you
02:01don't have any money and don't get any help because you're a smaller company, you're up
02:06against the wall.
02:09Like Matilde Gregori.
02:10She has a bar in the village of Penitucer.
02:14It was also ravaged by the water.
02:16She's angry because she has yet to receive any aid from the state.
02:24The only help we've gotten was from supermarket entrepreneur Juan Rudge, who was the only
02:29one with the courage to come and ask what kinds of problems we are having and help.
02:35Otherwise, nobody.
02:38You didn't get any other help?
02:41No, nothing.
02:42If you call the insurance company, they'll tell you they're busy and they'll call you
02:46back.
02:47Be patient.
02:48But it's been almost two months.
02:50The head of Spain's biggest supermarket chain quickly donated 35 million euros to more than
02:564,000 small businesses.
02:59But even that wasn't enough.
03:01Prospects in many places in the flooded area are bleak.
03:05Many shops and restaurants are unlikely to ever reopen.
03:11That's why the Chamber of Commerce takes to the road every day with a truck to advise
03:15smaller entrepreneurs.
03:20Most people don't really know what they can do or what kind of aid is available.
03:28The Chamber finds the many closed bars and retailers should be a focal point for state
03:32aid.
03:37We're talking about 800,000 people there and 350,000 in the worst areas.
03:43We hope that direct payments, especially for small businesses, very small businesses, can
03:49help them to move forward.
03:50We're not just businesses.
03:52We're people and we're cities and these cities need economic activity and for that to happen,
03:58we need this direct aid.
04:02But around two months after the flood, there's also some good news, even at Industrias Alegre.
04:08Although the sea of mud will probably paralyze the company until the end of April, customers
04:14are receiving their products again.
04:18We looked for external companies to distribute all of our molds and tools.
04:26And in record time, we were able to find 11 companies in different areas of Valencia,
04:32Spain, and even some in Portugal and Germany.
04:39Even the trade unions are cautiously optimistic, despite their concerns.
04:44That's because the Spanish government also took care of more than 30,000 workers who
04:48were suddenly jobless.
04:52We demanded a social safety net, like coverage through short-time work benefits due to force
04:57majeure, which can also be processed very quickly.
05:00People apply for short-time work and since they are in the affected area, it gets approved.
05:06We're talking about an approval rate of more than 98%.
05:12Despite the masses of scrap and waste that are still being removed, the region's outlook
05:16is slowly improving, as can now be seen from this street shortly after the flood.
05:22But the region still has an image problem abroad.
05:28This meant media coverage at the national and international level.
05:32Valencia was all over the front pages and on the TV news.
05:35But it turns out that the actual brand of Valencia, the city, is still completely intact.
05:41The problem is that 10 minutes away from Valencia, you find a completely desolate area
05:47that looks like it's been bombed.
05:52Valencia is trying to coax tourists back with an ad campaign that shows how the mud passed
05:58it by without a trace.
06:00Without visitors, the city centre is much emptier than usual at this time of year.