Morocco sends more aid to Valencia for clean-up efforts

Residents stand next to cars piled up in a mud-covered street after floods in Picanya, near Valencia, eastern Spain, on 30 October 2024 - AFP/ JOSE JORDAN

Margarita Arredondas

18 de noviembre de 2024 (13:00 h.)

Tags

Rabat has sent a new convoy of 12 trucks and 34 people to the Spanish region

Morocco has sent a new convoy of 12 trucks and 34 people to Valencia to support the clean-up operations following the floods that caused heavy human and material losses. This new aid is part of the close cooperation between the two neighbouring countries.

Last week Morocco already mobilised a fleet of 24 pumping and suction trucks, 42 workers and 25 drivers from various companies to clean up and rehabilitate the affected areas after the floods that left more than 200 people dead. In addition to the Moroccan offer, Spain also accepted aid from France and Portugal.

Following the natural disaster, Morocco's King Mohammed VI instructed the Interior Minister to contact his Spanish counterpart and inform him that Morocco is fully prepared to send relief teams and provide all necessary assistance to Spain.

In this regard, the Spanish association Jovesólides, which coordinates the solidarity actions of volunteers in one of the worst affected areas, has thanked Morocco for its active solidarity.

Rescue teams walk, after heavy rains caused flooding, in Paiporta, near Valencia, Spain, November 1, 2024 REUTERS/ NACHO DOCE

‘I would like to thank Morocco for its great contribution to the clean-up efforts and the operations aimed at returning to normality in the localities affected by the floods,’ Lourdes Mirón, the president of this Valencian association, told MAP.

According to Mirón, this mobilisation is ‘eloquent proof of the deep bonds of friendship and cooperation between the two neighbouring countries’, underlining also the mobilisation of the Moroccan community in Spain to help the affected populations.

Rescue teams rush to find survivors and victims of unprecedented flooding in Spain on October 31, 2024 - AFP/ OSCAR DEL POZO

The Moroccan ambassador in Madrid, Karima Benyaich, also agreed, stating that this support reflects the solid relationship between the two countries, highlighting the Moroccan associations and the numerous volunteers who contributed with their help and solidarity to consolidate the ties of brotherhood that unite the Moroccan and Spanish peoples.

The diplomat also stressed that this gesture of solidarity is a reciprocal response to the aid provided by Spain to Morocco after the earthquake of September 2023.