Christmas is over and when the Three Kings are also on their way out, the new year is really just beginning in Spain. New initiatives, challenges and opportunities on a personal and business level. For Valencian plant growers affected by the dramatic flooding at the end of October, however, 2025 looks barrenly different. The industry estimates losses at €150 million, €50 million for the loss of plants and €100 million for the destroyed farm buildings, greenhouses with their installations and production fields. The enormous force of water put an abrupt end to the 2025 marketing year and possibly to campaigns in the following years, as numerous crops are multi-annual.

The provisionally pledged state aid for the affected nurseries does not even cover 1% of the damage, according to Asfplant, the Valencian region's green sector organisation. Of course, that's not the last word on the matter. In Spain, people are never very confident about paying out state promised damages or subsidies, whether it is a natural disaster or a premium on the purchase of an electric car, confidence in a timely settlement is minimal. When in 1982, the Tous River dam breached, affected families were not met until 15 years later.

Coincidentally, during that 1982 disaster, I was just north of the city of Valencia doing reports on the Spanish citrus industry. The then also violent floods were taking place south of the capital. I heard it over the car radio. People in the affected towns were summoned to evacuate, but few complied. The proper functioning of ‘Protection of Population’ requires not only the necessary communication technology but also trust in the government. After finishing a series of interviews with citrus exporters, I drove briefly to the affected village of Alzina. Along the access road, metres high of lost household goods piled up, including rotting plants and dead animals, thickly covered with a layer of dirty brown mud. The pungent stench still stays with me. The water had subsided to pavement level, yet it proved dangerous because of the barely perceptible open sewage pits, therefore: get out quickly.

Back then, of course, mobile phones did not yet exist for daily use among the population. So there was no such thing as a warning system through this medium. Communication was via radio. Now the Alert Alert does exist, also in Spain, only the authority responsible for disaster management in the Valencia region had no idea how it worked, although they had heard something about it... With or without the Alert Alert, the damage caused by the Dana 2024 will have been the same, but with a timely warning, many lives would have been spared.

As so often after a dramatic natural disaster, all sorts of plans suddenly emerge from dusty desk drawers announcing dangers in certain regions and also indicating technical solutions. This has happened again now, involving projects that indeed cost millions. However, the current immense damage now amounts to many times more. In agriculture and livestock alone, it is estimated at €1,089 million (source: AVA Asaja). Spain will have to invest in large-scale projects, such as, at the time, as a result of a major flood, the diversion of the Turia river in Valencia. But yes, that is politics in a slightly longer term... In the meantime, the Valencian nurseries concerned are trying with all their might to get things back on track in order to reassert their position in European markets as soon as possible.

Author: Ing. Christian Vos