- He advocates for collaboration between administrations and urges the central government to ensure that the Generalitat’s aid following the DANA storm is tax-free.
- The President of the Generalitat visits the new València Sud facilities and the Control Center, in which 60 million euros have been invested, completing the reconstruction of Metrovalencia after the service was restored in June.
The President of the Generalitat, Juanfran Pérez Llorca, highlighted the “commendable work and great effort” carried out by the Consell (Valencian Government) in the reconstruction following the DANA storm of October 2014, exemplified by the Metrovalencia works and its new Control Center. He also urged the central government to implement regulatory changes that would allow municipalities to act with greater freedom and less bureaucracy to ensure that the physical reconstruction is effective and facilitates the emotional recovery of those affected.
The head of the Valencian government, who visited the new facilities at València Sud and the Metrovalencia Control Center, reviewed the reconstruction efforts exactly one and a half years after the tragedy. He emphasized that in record time, 57 health centers, nearly 60 bridges and local roads that the municipalities were unable to maintain, 18 regional roads, and more than 100 wastewater treatment plants have been rebuilt, among other projects totaling €3.1 billion mobilized by the Generalitat (Valencian government).
Pérez Llorca urged the administrations to “engage in dialogue, to understand each other, and to be courageous in their decision-making.” He also advocated for “regulatory changes that would allow the affected mayors to initiate recovery works in each of their streets, since the bureaucracy in this country makes the process very slow and difficult.”
He also highlighted the government’s acceptance of his demand to the president that aid to those affected by the 2025 DANA storm be tax-free, while requesting that the “2024 aid approved by the Generalitat also be tax-free.”
“We continue to need less confrontation and more progress, and for an exceptional and extraordinary event like the DANA storm, extraordinary measures should be adopted, without loopholes, prioritizing reconstruction above all else,” he added.
València Sud
The president, accompanied by the Minister of the Environment, Infrastructure, Territory, and Recovery, Vicente Martínez Mus; the managing director of FGV (Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana), Alfonso Novo; the mayors of Picanya and Paiporta; the councilor for Security and Mobility of the Valencia City Council; and other representatives from the municipalities affected by the storm, announced the completion of the Metrovalencia infrastructure reconstruction process, in which 140 million euros have been invested, with the opening of the Valencia South facilities and the Control Center.
These two facilities represent a massive engineering undertaking and were carried out in parallel with the restoration of the Metrovalencia network, where work was done on 50 kilometers of track and 20 kilometers of overhead lines. This work allowed service to resume on June 27th and continued simultaneously with the repair of the facilities. Furthermore, all the work has focused not only on repairing damage but also on improving the infrastructure and making it more resilient.
Thus, València Sud, the operational heart of Metrovalencia, is now a stronger and safer complex, while critical systems such as the Control Center, power supply centers, servers, and communications have been designed to be elevated to enhance the response to extreme weather events.
In addition, the new Control Center will soon resume Metrovalencia’s operations, maintaining a key safety element: the backup equipment currently operating from the Machado workshops.
In total, nearly €60 million has been invested in the new València Sud facilities, which include an intermodal parking garage with a capacity for 500 vehicles.
Investment Plan
The head of the Valencian government emphasized that the reconstruction process doesn’t end with investments in FGV (Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana) and that the Generalitat is already implementing the actions planned in the 2026-2030 Action Plan, with an investment of nearly €840 million to maintain, modernize, and expand the existing network.
This plan includes the addition of new trains and trams, more accessible stations, a greater range of services, and more realistic planning for future expansions.
The goal is to make every journey more comfortable, safe, and sustainable, and to ensure that mobility continues to represent equal opportunities, social cohesion, and a normal part of daily life.
