The Valencian Government has warned that the region could face further flash floods in the coming months as the Mediterranean Sea continues to warm and autumn storms approach.
Regional government spokesperson Miguel Barrachina said the combination of unusually warm seawater and the Valencian Community’s mountainous landscape increased the danger of severe, fast-moving floods.
He supported calls from the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces for urgent work to clear and maintain ravines, dry riverbeds and the new Turia river channel before the autumn rains arrive.
The federation wants the Júcar River Basin Authority and the Spanish Government to make the Valencian Community a priority. It is calling for vegetation, reeds and other obstructions to be removed from waterways considered especially vulnerable.
“Our riverbeds and ravines should be in good condition, but they are not,” Barrachina said.
He accused the river basin authorities of responding too slowly and failing to complete essential maintenance during the summer.
Barrachina said Valencia, Alicante and Castellón faced particular risks because their mountainous inland areas can send huge amounts of rainwater rushing towards towns and coastal communities.
“The warming of the Mediterranean and our landscape are producing massive torrential rainfall,” he warned. “We are heading towards new flash floods in the coming months.”
His comments came during the presentation of a €17 million flood-prevention project in the Picassent ravine. The work is designed to stop the Beniparrell industrial estate from flooding again.
Barrachina said the Valencian Government was already spending more than €52 million clearing reeds and improving riverbeds. However, he complained that many of the waterways were the responsibility of the Spanish Government.
He said the regional administration had been forced to borrow money to carry out work that should be funded and completed by state authorities.
Barrachina also criticised the Segura River Basin Authority, claiming that it had completed only 5% of the flood-prevention projects included in its current programme in the Vega Baja, where communities remain deeply concerned about the slow delivery of flood defences promised after the devastating 2019 DANA.
More than €330 million in projects was included in or linked to the Segura Basin Flood Risk Management Plan for 2022–2027. However, only around €16 million of work has been completed or is under way—roughly 5% of the total.
Major schemes affecting Abanilla, Santomera, Tabala and the Segura corridor remain stuck in planning or administrative stages, prompting accusations that residents are being left dangerously exposed to another major disaster.
“The next storm will not wait”
María Gómez, the PPCV’s water spokesperson in the Valencian Parliament, described the lack of progress as “unacceptable” as the seventh anniversary of the catastrophic September 2019 floods approaches.
She too called on the Spanish Government and the CHS to accelerate all outstanding projects and provide firm schedules for their completion.
She warned that climate-related emergencies would not wait for authorities to finish preliminary studies, planning procedures or political negotiations.
“The next storm will not wait for the plans to be completed,” she said.
The PPCV maintains that, after almost seven years, the central Government has run out of excuses and must urgently deliver the protection promised to one of Spain’s most flood-prone regions.
The regional government is now demanding faster action from both the Júcar and Segura river basin authorities before the highest-risk period begins.
Officials fear that heavy autumn rain falling on dry, hardened ground could quickly overwhelm poorly maintained ravines and drainage channels, placing homes, businesses and roads at risk.
