Spain PM announces fresh flood aid of almost 3.8 bn euros

MADRID  -  Spain on Monday announced fresh measures worth almost 3.8 billion euros to help stricken citizens recover from the country’s worst floods in a generation that have killed 222 people. But Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez postponed the reckoning for Spain’s political class after tens of thousands of protesters demanded accountability for the disaster, saying the debate must follow the recovery. The exceptional Mediterranean storm that lashed Spain two weeks ago particularly devastated the wealthy eastern Valencia region, which has suffered most of the deaths and destruction. The torrents of muddy water wrecked roads and railways, tossed cars, gutted shops and submerged fields, with the final bill expected to soar to tens of billions of euros. Sanchez on Monday unveiled a second aid package worth 3.76 billion euros ($4 billion) to reinforce aid worth 10.6 billion euros announced last week. Compensation will be streamlined and extended to cover more residents and property, while farmers will also receive fresh aid totalling 200 million euros, the left-wing premier told a news conference. Sanchez has compared the measures to the state’s intervention to prop up the economy during the Covid-19 crisis.

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