Post-DANA reconstruction is proceeding at too slow a pace

The ARA (Spanish National Association of Tourists) sought to take an x-ray of the current state of the Valencian towns affected by the DANA (Dana) on October 29th, now that such an emblematic moment as the Falles festival is approaching. The result is a collection of witnesses who paint a very harsh picture, with the wounds, both material and human, still raw, but also with a fierce will to move forward and overcome the tragedy. Four and a half months later, the streets are no longer muddy, it's true, but most of the ground floors are still closed or, at best, under construction. There is a constant struggle to return to normality and climb out of the hole into which hundreds of thousands of people were forced by a combination of incompetence on the part of the authorities and a natural disaster of unknown proportions.

Some stories, like that of the restaurant that can only now reopen or the florist that has resumed business just for Falles, demonstrate that progress is being made. But it's also true that everything is moving very slowly, too slowly. And the conclusion is that without the wave of solidarity unleashed in the affected areas, ranging from volunteers who helped remove the mud to large-scale philanthropic operations led by magnates like Juan Roig and Amancio Ortega, it would have been impossible to overcome this first phase. Aid from government agencies and compensation from insurance companies simply wouldn't have been enough. Impossible. In many cases, this citizen solidarity has accounted for half the income of many businesses and individuals, which shows that the public sector is nowhere near prepared to deal with emergencies of this magnitude. And this is very dangerous because it fuels populism and anti-politics.

In the case of the DANA (National Autonomous University of Catalonia), the despair and grief over the human losses are compounded by the realization that the Valencian authorities' actions during those days were completely incompetent, as is being demonstrated in the writings of the Catarroja judge handling the case. And this indignation is growing in light of the behavior of the President of the Generalitat (Catalan government), Carlos Mazón, who, far from resigning, is immersed in a race to avoid any criminal responsibility, even at the price of losing all the credibility and dignity that comes with the position. In this sense, the upcoming statement by former Justice Minister Salomé Pradas, on whom Mazón wants to shift all responsibility, will be key to the Valencian politician's future.

Be that as it may, Mazón's continued tenure has become a major problem for Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who gives the impression that he doesn't know how to resolve the crisis. The editorial on the front page of the newspaper Abc Demanding Mazón's resignation demonstrates that he's already considered politically dead in Madrid's ruling circles, but he's resisting. Meanwhile, every day that passes without his resignation further undermines not only the Valencian People's Party (PP), but also the Spanish PP and the credibility of politics.