'The presidents of the EU institutions were very eager to listen to us,' said the representatives of victims associations.
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Three associations representing victims of the storm that caused hundreds of deaths in the province of Valencia last October travelled to Brussels, to meet representatives from European institutions.
The victims of the so-called "Dana" had the opportunity to share their experiences and the challenges they are still facing in four different meetings, with the European Commission's President Ursula von der Leyen, the vice-president Teresa Ribera, the European Parliament's President Roberta Metsola and a cross-party group of MEPs.
The associations were "Asociación Víctimas Mortales Dana 29-0," "Associació de Víctimes de la Dana 29 d'Octubre de 2024" and Asociación Damnificados de la Dana Horta Sud Valencia."
The former focuses exclusively on the people who died during the floods and the consequences for their families.
"Our beloved have not died from an illness, or in an accident. They died because of incompetence, because no one knew how to do their job, and even worse, because [the people in charge] deny climate change," the association's president Rosa María Álvarez Gil told Euronews.
The president and her vice-president Carmina Gil considered the meetings satisfactory and described von der Leyen and Metsola as "People with closeness, with empathy, and eager to listen."
Metsola was the more committed one, Álvarez Gil explains, as she promised "a direct intervention" with the regional Valencia government and asked for a report of all the issues faced by the victims.
Von der Leyen granted the associations' representatives a warm welcome and a long conversation, even beyond the schedule.
"Von der Leyen is one of the promoters of the Green Deal and is very committed to tackling climate change. She told us she fully supports our claims and criticizes, without any specific reference, the governments that don’t follow climate action policies."
The President of the European Commission was in Valencia a few weeks ago when she joined the European People's Party Congress, and she was requested to meet the victims, but the meeting was postponed and moved to Brussels.
Following the meeting, von der Leyen wrote on X that this guide EU's preparations for the future.
The European Commission has granted Spain an advance of €100 million from the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) to cover expenses resulting from the damages caused by October's storm.
This money can be used to restore essential infrastructure such as energy, water, healthcare, education, or telecommunications systems, as well as for cultural heritage protection measures or clean-up operations.
On top of this, Brussels is evaluating the documentation submitted by the Spanish government regarding other expenses eligible to be financed through the European Union Solidarity Fund, which Madrid estimates at over €4 billion.
The evaluation is still ongoing and will set the final amount of aid granted from the EU to the Spanish government.
Victims against the regional government
Earlier on Tuesday, before the meetings with von der Leyen and Metsola, the three victims' associations were received by around 15 Members of the European Parliament, coming from the Socialist and democrats, the Renew Europe, the Greens/EFA and the Left group.
Victims representatives blame the right-wing regional government in Valencia for the deaths provoked by Dana and accuse it of ignoring their claims.
"We, the families of the victims, are not provided any psychological support to help us overcome this trauma. We don't have therapists, and we don’t have any compensation for the deceased, to help covering all the resources we so badly need," said Carmina Gil.
She underlined that there was compensation for cars and furniture in the houses, and even a tourism voucher for the affected people, but nothing for the victims' families.
In Gil's opinion, the Valencia government is "quite scientifically unwilling to believe in climate change."
Furthermore, "it is backed by the far right [Vox party], which is completely opposed to any action on climate change, to the Green Deal, and to any climate policy."