Valencia mayor Catalá says outdated flood maps caused DANA deaths

On 29 October 2024 a severe DANA storm hit Valencia, flooding the Barranc del Poyo and killing 17 people in the city’s southern districts. Mayor María José Catalá (PP) appeared before a parliamentary investigation commission and defended the municipal response, saying the city could not have warned residents because the municipal flood‑risk plan, approved by the previous administration, lacked accurate cartography. The plan indicated the water would flow to rice fields, not to populated areas such as La Torre, Castellar‑l’Oliveral and Forn d’Alcedo, where the fatalities occurred.

Catalá criticised the Generalitat Valenciana for poor coordination. Valencia was added to the regional emergency coordination system (CordCom) only on 30 October, more than 24 hours after the disaster, and the city never received the hydrological alert issued at midday on the day of the storm. She noted that the regional president, Carlos Mazón, was the only official to publicly assume political responsibility for the disaster.

The testimony highlighted gaps in warning procedures, outdated flood mapping, and delays in integrating municipal services into the regional emergency network, prompting calls for reform of flood‑risk planning and emergency coordination.