The administration and the Parents' Association of the Joan Brossa Institute, in the Baix Guinardó neighborhood of Barcelona, ​​have denounced the poor condition of the school's facilities, which have been accumulating problems in recent years. The trigger for the protest was the sewage flood the school suffered at the beginning of the month, which has left the school without water for two weeks and without access to the restrooms. "It's a very critical situation because we have no hygiene," says Cesc Trillo, a teacher and spokesperson for the faculty, who adds that portable toilets have had to be installed in the schoolyard. The problem first became noticeable on March 4 when some teachers detected a water leak in the basement. "In a matter of minutes, we had a foot of water flooding the entire entrance of the building," explains the spokesperson. Coinciding with the heavy rains of early March, the situation repeated itself the following day, this time with flooding from the courtyard drains that forced the evacuation of the building for safety and health reasons.

Floods are the main natural hazard for people in Catalonia: since 1980 there have been 301 floods, resulting in 131 deaths. After two years of analysis and studies to comply with the European directive on flooding, the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) has updated the map of rivers, streams, and ravines in the internal basins at risk of flooding, adding 90 sections with a significant risk of overflowing in cases of torrential rain—an additional 172 kilometers compared to the previous review in 2018. Eleven of these sections were added in the last year. The new sections are distributed across various basins in the region, such as the Ter-Daró, Tordera, Besòs, Llobregat, Foix, Francolí, and the streams of Montsià. With these additions, Catalonia now has 696.71 kilometers of flood-prone areas in 44 municipalities, as detailed this Wednesday by the agency's director, Josep Lluís Armenter, during an address to the Parliament's Ecological Transition Committee to explain the effects of the recent storm in the Terres de l'Ebre region. He also confirmed 26 defined coastal areas. "This gives us a much more complete picture of the current and future risk," he said. In Alcanar (Montsià), for example, the Bandolers and Llop ravines in the Serramar residential area have been added; as well as the Sant Jaume ravine and Rocatallada street in Les Casas de Alcanar; and the Forques ravine. All of these have overflowed in recent years, causing damage. The most recent flooding occurred just a month ago following Storm Alice. In this appearance, Armenter also stated that the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) plans to have a comprehensive and standardized map of flood-prone areas in Catalonia updated by the end of 2027, "which will be the basis for identifying new sections at risk of flooding." In this regard, three contracts have already been awarded covering more than 1,350 kilometers of rivers and more than 1,000 urban areas, with a total investment of over one million euros, he added. Half of the municipalities have plans

The review and update of the Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment (APRI) for the period 2028-2033—which President Salvador Illa assured would be expedited just days after the catastrophic storm in the Valencian Community—has expanded the areas of the territory where there is a potential risk of flooding. According to the Catalan Water Agency (ACA), significant flood events—those causing damages exceeding one million euros—recorded between 2005 and 2023 have been taken into account.

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While awaiting the results of the review of flood risk maps, which should allow for the identification of which activities and infrastructure are located in "preferential flow zones"—where measures to evacuate the population or contain the consequences are practically impossible in the event of a natural disaster—the Generalitat (Catalan government) already has a plan to protect campsites from closure. The executive branch will approve this Tuesday a decree-law of urgent measures to study the viability of campsites located in priority flood risk areas. In addition, a government agreement will be approved to create an economic recovery fund for accommodations at risk in the event of sudden storms or river floods.

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