After the EU-Morocco Summit, the President of the Government met with the President of the Regional Government of Andalusia, the Government representative to the region and other members of the Andalusian Government to receive more details on the “serious situation” caused by the flooding and the seemingly unending intense rainfall battering Andalusia.

At a joint press conference with José Antonio Griñán, Mr Rodríguez Zapatero recognised that “we are experiencing exceptional circumstances” for which there is no precedent because it has never rained so much in Andalusia.

The storm has caused substantial economic damage as well as a large number of people suffering serious damage at a personal level, acknowledged Mr Rodríguez Zapatero.
He stressed that his concern lies with the farmers, the producers, the businesses, the fishing sector, the tourism sector and, in general, with all those people who have lost their homes, their belongings and those who have had to relocate.

The damage we are seeing is very serious for the infrastructure, farming, the coastline, public installations and roads, which is seriously affecting communication and travel.

Mr Rodríguez Zapatero said that this “exceptional” situation will require joint action from the Government of Spain and the Regional Government of Andalusia.

No time should be wasted, “we must start rebuilding now”. He consequently announced the creation of a working group that will begin operating on Tuesday 16 March.

The meeting will take place at 18:00 hours at the La Moncloa palace, will be presided over by the President of the Government and the President of the Regional Government of Andalusia and will be attended by various Government Ministers and Regional Government Councillors.

The President of the Government underlined that “we are going to get to work immediately with the maximum level of commitment and responsibility”.

The President of the Regional Government of Andalusia, José Antonio Griñán, thanked Mr Rodríguez Zapatero for the Government’s willingness to maintain a permanent watch over the progress to the situation.

He also mentioned the recent visit by the First Vice-President of the Government, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, and the measures approved on 26 February to alleviate the damage caused by the storm, stating that, seeing as the “rain continues to fall and the damage continues to mount up”, it is important to establish “joint action of a permanent nature”.

The working group that has been set up will enable an analysis of the sectors suffering damage and the immediate provision of solutions to inspire confidence among the people of Andalusia, concluded Mr Griñán.