The reconstruction is stuck in the shops of the zero zone of the Dana | News from the Valencian Community

Marisol brings together a shelf. Mario squeezes screws in an electrical panel. Diego deposits some release tables. The reconstruction is underway, but not without problems in the municipalities affected by the DANA. More six months have passed since the tragedy that left 227 dead and a missing person, 17,000 million euros in losses, according to the Valencian Institute for Economic Research (IVIE). The colossal figure collects the damages of small businesses such as Marisol Solar, 50, who in the morning prior to the flood had the days to open its new cafeteria in Paiporta.

The voracious flood turned a local sympathetic to release into a mud, branches and destroyed appliances. How has you getting up again? Solar explains that financial aid has been a fundamental pillar. His sister prepared a Crowdfunding From Barcelona and several private companies put their grain of sand. The rest is due to the constancy and patience, he declares as he brings a metallic shelf in his new establishment. If nothing happens, in two weeks this trade will serve cafes again to the residents of the zero zone.

The owners and merchants have been raffling obstacles to reopen their businesses. The lack of labor specialized, The delayed delivery of payments of the insurance consortium in some cases and the shortage of materials have stopped the economic recovery of the affected peoples. Just walk through Paiporta —The more beaten area, with 45 fatalities— To see that many of the wounds left by the water have not yet closed. Numerous low floors have been abandoned, there are commercial premises that have definitely thrown the lock and various public spaces such as sports center or children’s parks are still vetoed to the public.

A study published by the Valencia Chamber of Commerce at the end of April indicated that the local economy, measured by energy consumption, continues to function at medium gas. The most harmed municipalities and whose degree of recovery is slower, according to the camera, are those of Alfafar, Sedaví, Massanssa and Paiporta, which record setbacks from energy use of more than 30% after five months from the catastrophe. They are also those that concentrate a greater volume of commercial activity and, in the case of Paiporta, a greater degree of destruction.

La Dana hit more 8,000 shops in all affected municipalities. And according to the Chamber of Commerce of Valencia, one in three businesses remained inactive at the end of the first quarter of 2025. “March and April data show that the reopening rhythm of commercial premises has slowed down significantly, compared to the previous months, so it is very likely that between 20% and 25% of commercial premises do not return to open in the short and medium term”, warns the study of this study of this study entity. The Employer’s employer is more pessimistic in its forecast and estimates that a quarter of the commercial fabric of the beaten areas is at risk of disappearing.

Juan Pérez’s case (52 years old) feeds this hypothesis. This Paiporta neighbor understood that he could not start over. The water completely disarmed his bread workshop, his parents’ inheritance, which he operated with his brother for almost a quarter of a century, leaving losses close to 400,000 euros. The insurance, counts, has only taken charge of 40%, which it has used to compensate the farewell workers. He believes that at his age it makes no sense to commit to a new bank loan. « My children have their studies and have done their own lives. There is no longer a reason for weight to borrow again, » he says.

Pérez found work in the only oven that survived the overflow of the poyo: the royal bakery, which bakes without interruption in recent months. She is the only kneader that serves bread and sweets in the municipality, of 32,000 inhabitants. This trade opens its doors when the sun has not yet left to serve the bulky clientele that rarely avoids rowing. « We have had to double the squad, » explains its owner, Mari Carmen Alabau, 55. Alabau’s place did not suffer great damage and could work again at the end of the year. Even so, maintenance and repair expenses rose to 90,000 euros, according to the owner. The other three bakeries of the town, for the moment, have not recovered.

From Confecomerç they expose that there are numerous establishments with compensation files of the insurance consortium that have not been resolved. They consider urgent that at least 50% of the compensation are anticipated to expedite reopenings. « This will mean an oxygen ball to relieve the complex situation of the commercial sector and facilitate the recovery of small trade, » they argue.

Although not everything is bad news. As Alabau’s bakery, the businesses that have been able to lift the blinds have been forced to expand the workforce to respond to the growing demand. The data of the Valencian Chamber of Commerce reflect that the hiring increased considerably during the first quarter of this year compared to the same period of 2024.

Electrical arrangements

Mario Pastuszak, 23, culminates two weeks of work in the Marisol Solar cafeteria. His work has been to repair the entire electrical system that water, as in most premises, found. He is aware that electricians have become a rare Avis in the affected areas. After the flood came professionals from all over Spain to repair houses and businesses, but as the months have passed qualified personnel have diminished in the affected areas: gas installers, light, water systems; masonry, plurists, locksmiths or machinists. The shortage of all these profiles was a chronic evil that affected industrial fabric before the Dana. With the passage of the flood, the situation has worsened, experts agree. Pastuszak believes that at least in Paiporta there is work for « a couple of years. »

To this is added the lack of construction materials such as wood and metals for furniture. Soler’s new cafeteria exemplifies this challenge. The company in charge of placing the windows arrived almost a month after Solar signs the order. Nearly 6,000 small and medium -sized companies that worked with the metal in the Autonomous Community have been affected, according to Vicente Lafuente, president of the Valencian Metallurgical Business Federation (Femeval). Factory machinery has been unusable, to a large extent by having been buried by water on the night of the flood.

The « furniture triangle », fractured

Populations such as Alfafar, Benetússer and Sedaví shaped the known as « furniture triangle. » In Paiporta, numerous warehouses that distribute furniture are also settle. The destruction of specialized machinery is the main wall that hinders the recovery of this sector. « Our machinery is manufactured to measure. And some of these machines may take up to six months to be sent, » says Alejandro Bermejo, president of the Valencian Federation of Furniture and Wood (Fevama).

« In six months, customers go to other places, » says Alejandro Bermejo, president of the Business Federation of Wood and Furniture of the Valencian Community (Fevama), who has also seen how the slow recovery is punishing the reputation of the sector. He tells that there are clients who believe that all manufacturing companies are still in shock, unable to get up. « Particularly, I have had to send photos to the clients who thought we had stopped manufacturing, » he laments. Calculate that 20% of the furniture sector – where about 600 companies coexist – will not operate again.

Farmers also expect the promised machinery to clear and repair the roads towards farms. Bernardo Ferrer, vice president of Asaja Valencia, does not deny that direct aid for lost production or to repair irrigation and pumping systems. However, the infrastructure —caminos, fences, walls and channels – remains unusable. He considers that the political differences between the central government and that of the Generalitat have ended up losing the recovery of the Valencian primary sector. The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock estimated that 70,000 hectares had been affected in the province and Asaja estimates that the losses amount to 1,000 million euros. « When are we going to recover? In an uncertain time, the magnitude is very large, » says Ferrer.

« This goes for long »

To the edge of the ravine, Diego Sánchez, 36, clicks a button that lifts a gleaming metallic blind. Behind is Thunder, a deep and gloomy bar that the Dana shook, but could not bother. « It’s shit because it was a business that worked well and brought together many people from the town in festive times, » says Sánchez, who has just bought new furniture for his premises. While walking for your business, remember where each element was: there was a drink bar and here was the TV. « And this pillar almost takes it ahead of the water, » he says.

– Is the new business going to be very different?

– Not much.

He defends that his spare time dedicates them to the reform or to help a neighbor who has something destroyed. « At first we were afraid to open because all the people were ravaged and there were no lights in the streets, now moderately it is taking shape, but without a doubt this goes for long, » says this owner, who aspires that in their reformed business the male final of the Champions League can be visualized at the end of May. On the outskirts of the premises, there is casually, there is a sign attached to a post that invites neighbors to a local festival in May. Your name? « Paipporta Renace. »