Spain approves 10.6 billion-euro relief package after devastating floods
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he will ask the European Union to help pay for the relief.
Spain’s central government approved a 10.6-billion-euro (£8.9 billion) relief package for 78 communities on Tuesday that Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez compared with measures taken during the Covid-19 pandemic.
They include direct payments of 20,000 euros to 60,000 euros to owners of damaged homes, among other financial aid for businesses and municipal governments.
“We have a lot of work left to do, and we know it,” Mr Sanchez said.
Mr Sanchez said he will ask the European Union to help pay for the relief.
Thousands of soldiers are working with firefighters and police reinforcements in the immense emergency response in areas of eastern Spain, including hard-hit Valencia.
Officers and troops are searching in destroyed homes, the countless cars strewn across highways, streets, or in the mud in canals and gorges.
Authorities are worried about other health problems caused by the aftermath of the deadliest natural disaster in Spain’s recent history.
They have urged people to get tetanus shots and to treat any wounds to prevent infections and to clean the mud from their skin. Many people wear face masks.
Thousands of volunteers are helping out, filling the void left by authorities. But the frustration over the crisis management boiled over on Sunday when a crowd in hard-hit Paiporta hurled mud and other objects at Spain’s royals, the prime minister and regional officials when they made their first visit to the epicentre of the flood damage.
