DANA Storm & more –7th Sep 2023

th of September: 2023

Starting this week's episode, Spain has been hit with a shocking upper-level isolated depression storm, best known as DANA, bringing with it torrential rain, dangerous conditions, and destruction of buildings, bridges, and roads.

Certain areas have been hit worse than others. In the Community of Madrid, rainfall heavily affected Madrid and Toledo over the weekend, registering over a thousand incidents of people needing rescuing in homes and vehicles. On Sunday, the 3rd, the government warned residents in Madrid to stay at home and not to use their vehicles. On the same day, numerous metro lines in the capital started flooding, with water entering some metro cars. Two people have died, and one is missing.

Similar scenes have been seen in Valencia, Sevilla, Castellón, the Balearics, and Huesca. The Spanish Meteorological Agency has issued warnings across the Peninsula even though the rain has subsided since Monday the 3rd.

While Spain battles the DANA storm, Yolanda Diaz, leader of the independent Sumar party and vice president of Spain, has other battles to deal with this week.

Diaz met with self-exiled former Catalan president and leader of Junts per Catalunya - Carles Puigdemont on Monday the 4th in Brussels. According to the government, Diaz was there as a Sumar representative, not for the socialist party PSOE. In a joint statement, they both agreed to explore "democratic solutions" to unblock the political standstill, as Spain still awaits a president.

However, the leader of the Partido Popular or PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has spoken out about the meeting between Puigdemont and Diaz, saying that they have agreed on an amnesty that goes against the constitution. Meanwhile, Vox party leader Santiago Abascal expressed his outrage at a press conference on Monday, saying Diaz was “sitting across from a fugitive”. When asked about the legitimacy of a pardon for Puigdemont, Sumar representative Marta Lois said it was "on the table but had to fit into the constitution.”

Elizabeth Duval, the spokeswoman of Sumar for feminism, equality, and LGBTI+ rights said in an interview that an agreement with Catalunya won’t be based on opportunism. She said that a debate on an amnesty is necessary.

Speaking of the PP and Feijóo, he needs to find support for his presidential inauguration at the end of the month. However, on Monday the 4th, he announced that under no conditions would he meet with Junts per Catalunya to talk about gaining its support if all they want is an amnesty for those accused of their involvement in the twenty seventeen independence referendum. Junts has always stated that if a political party wants its support to elect a new president, criminal charges must be dropped for all the accused Catalan separatists. As the PP won't offer this, Feijóo sees no point in meeting with him. So it’s sort of like me announcing that under no circumstances will I go on a date with Penelope Cruz!

This week, a piece of sad news, as well-loved "queen of morning TV" María Teresa Campos, died on Tuesday the 5th, surrounded by her daughters in Madrid.

Many across Spain grew up seeing her on the screen first thing in the morning after she joined TVE's Buenos Dias program in nineteen eighty-six, an informative morning broadcast. Her career spanned over five decades, with her first audiovisual appearance as a teenager in a radio contest, signing with various radio networks across Spain and eventually ending up on the small screen with occasional radio appearances.

Another well-loved artist died this week. On Thursday the 7th, Sevillian artist María Jiménez passed away at age seventy-three. The singer and flamenco revolutionary had a hugely successful career spanning fifty years.

Moving to football now. FC Barcelona is caught up in accusations of corruption spanning over seventeen years between two thousand one and twenty eighteen.

The anti-corruption department of the Spanish police and Xavier Estrada Fernández, former Spanish referee, brought forward The Negreira case. Investigations are underway to determine whether the Camp Nou-based football club paid off advertising agency Dansil 95 in exchange for preferential referee treatment. The owner of the agency is Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees. The Negreira case has been going on since the spring of last year when authorities noticed irregularities in Dansil's records.

According to major media outlets, Joaquin Aguirre, the Spanish judge overseeing the case, believes that payments gave Barça an advantage because of favorable decisions causing "systemic corruption." The purpose of the payments over seventeen years is yet to be determined. If FC Barcelona is found guilty, it could affect current players as the club will be subject to sanctions.

Continuing with sports. Jorge Vilda, the women's national football team coach, was dismissed on Tuesday the 6th after worldwide criticism since Spain's World Cup win. Spanish footballer Montse Tomé will replace him.

According to the Spanish Football Federation, or RFEF, which has also been heavily criticized, Vilda was let go because of "structural changes." Still, the move was called into question as it was in part done because of his outward support for Luis Rubiales, the RFEF president, who is suspended over his non-consensual kiss during the World Cup medal ceremony. Players have also criticized Vilda for his training methods and lack of empathy, causing the coaching staff and players to walk out before the World Cup.

Even though Vilda says he doesn't agree with his dismissal, he has congratulated his successor, saying he will do a fantastic job.

But what about Rubiales? Spanish prosecutors opened a sexual assault investigation into Rubiale's kiss. Last week, the RFEF fiercely told the media they were protecting Rubiales and applauded his speeches. However, on Tuesday the 5th, they released an official statement saying his actions don't represent the federation's values. Shedding skins as they go, it seems?

Jenni Hermoso, the player Rubiales kissed, also filed a suit against him.

While Spanish football undergoes management shifts, we can return to the aftermath of DANA for this next story.

A day of travel hell ensued on Monday the 4th to kick start the week.

After a weekend of destruction, passengers traveling between the Capital and the Andalusian region suffered huge delays because railway lines were flooded or damaged. Renfe, the national railway company, had to cancel or delay services, causing a chaotic evening at Madrid’s Atocha station as people gathered around the monitors.

According to Olive Press, services between Madrid and Malaga were the most affected; passengers were significantly delayed and then forced to sit on an unmoving train for a few hours before departing almost seven hours later. When asked why passengers were told to get on a train that wasn't leaving, a conductor told Olive Press that he was trying to prevent a build-up of people in the station. Also, as the media had arrived, management told him they didn't want the press to see the chaos.

Now for a little bit of light relief. As the summer season closes, festivals continue. Here are a few things going on in Valencia in September.

Arguably, the birthplace of paella is Valencia, so it might be the best place to celebrate World Paella Day on the 20th of September. Contrary to popular belief, paella aficionados will tell you that the Paella Valenciana is traditionally made with green beans, butter beans, rabbit, chicken, sometimes snails, and optional pieces of artichoke - and some argue it´s the only paella you should be eating. The secret to a fantastic paella? Socarrat or, in English, the crispy crust at the bottom of the pan.

alencia the Green Capital for: 2024

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¡Hasta la próxima!