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The Junta de Andalucía's spokesperson Carolina España has announced that the regional government, together with local town halls, has been working "for months" on the implementation of a system to, in her words, "publish the flood-prone areas of Andalucía". She explained, "We want everyone to know if they are at risk."
The latest regional urban planning regulation, the Law of Impulse for the Sustainability of the Territory of Andalucía, known by its acronym Lista, expressly prohibits constructions on floodplains, as España pointed out. She said that the mayors have the tools to put an end to these constructions, in accordance with the current legislation and the jurisdictional doctrine.
España made these statements in Alhaurín de la Torre, where accompanied the mayor, Joaquín Villanova, on a visit to one of the sandbanks built in the town. There are 35 in total, designed to contain the force of the Blanquillo and other streams when they flood during heavy rainfall.
In relation to the demolition of buildings on the banks of the river, Villanova explained that more than twenty have already been ordered in the municipality since the floods of the 1990s, although there are still three to be executed, pending a final court ruling.
After the latest rains on Wednesday 13 November, the mayor of Alhaurin has also made an announcement about transforming a disused quarry at the foot of the sierra, to act as a brake on the floods. The idea would be to create a flood park there, a piece of land which would have the capacity to flood, absorbing water, so that it could then be channelled and allow the aquifers to regenerate.
This infrastructure, which has already been successfully tested in cities, depends on a project which, as announced by the municipal government, will be up and running within a month. The work will lead to a capacity to absorb up to 260 million litres of rainwater, said Villanova.
With regard to the damage, España pointed out that, once the civil protection department has concluded its damage assessment in the different municipalities, the regional government will activate the economic aid to deal with the repairs that are necessary within the scope of the regional competences. Although she hinted that this will require a larger fund than the 80 million euros provided for at the end of October, España was cautious and did not advance any estimate of losses.
As for the situation in the Malaga municipalities most affected by the rains, such as Benamargosa, she insisted that, for the moment, there is little more that can be done than to provide the material and human resources necessary to speed up the clean-up and return to normality.
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