00:00120,000 cars destroyed, infrastructure that's still partially paralyzed, and soldiers and
00:07civilians still cleaning up the streets.
00:10In the middle of Ground Zero in Catarroja, workers are still cleaning the equipment and
00:15manufacturing halls.
00:16The 40 injection molding machines at automotive supplier Industrias Alegre stand frozen.
00:23All of these machines, they're just scrap.
00:28Technicians from all over Europe are trying to get other machines up and running.
00:36The flood was devastating for us, here and in all other towns in the area.
00:43And the flood completely paralyzed our business.
00:47The mud reached nearly two meters high.
00:52The flood doesn't seem to have caused any damage at this logistics company, but the
00:57boss wants to show us another warehouse.
01:05The way there resembles a war zone.
01:07Photos and videos from the hours after the flood show how destructive the sea of mud
01:13was.
01:15This is almost three meters.
01:17That's how high the water was.
01:22But people are once again working here.
01:25It's not quite like before.
01:30We have goods here that are blocked because the customer has to decide what they want
01:34to do.
01:36Some are still good, but we need to reach an agreement.
01:41And here is where goods were that have just gone out.
01:44We have to clean, clean, clean.
01:49These solar panels from China are also blocked, but Juan Castellano feels that they are a
01:53relatively minor problem.
01:57If you have money, you can keep going because you can make decisions quickly, but if you
02:01don't have any money and don't get any help because you're a smaller company, you're up
02:06against the wall.
02:09Like Matilde Gregori.
02:10She has a bar in the village of Penitucer.
02:14It was also ravaged by the water.
02:16She's angry because she has yet to receive any aid from the state.
02:24The only help we've gotten was from supermarket entrepreneur Juan Rudge, who was the only
02:29one with the courage to come and ask what kinds of problems we are having and help.
02:35Otherwise, nobody.
02:38You didn't get any other help?
02:41No, nothing.
02:42If you call the insurance company, they'll tell you they're busy and they'll call you
02:46back.
02:47Be patient.
02:48But it's been almost two months.
02:50The head of Spain's biggest supermarket chain quickly donated 35 million euros to more than
02:564,000 small businesses.
02:59But even that wasn't enough.
03:01Prospects in many places in the flooded area are bleak.
03:05Many shops and restaurants are unlikely to ever reopen.
03:11That's why the Chamber of Commerce takes to the road every day with a truck to advise
03:15smaller entrepreneurs.
03:20Most people don't really know what they can do or what kind of aid is available.
03:28The Chamber finds the many closed bars and retailers should be a focal point for state
03:32aid.
03:37We're talking about 800,000 people there and 350,000 in the worst areas.
03:43We hope that direct payments, especially for small businesses, very small businesses, can
03:49help them to move forward.
03:50We're not just businesses.
03:52We're people and we're cities and these cities need economic activity and for that to happen,
03:58we need this direct aid.
04:02But around two months after the flood, there's also some good news, even at Industrias Alegre.
04:08Although the sea of mud will probably paralyze the company until the end of April, customers
04:14are receiving their products again.
04:18We looked for external companies to distribute all of our molds and tools.
04:26And in record time, we were able to find 11 companies in different areas of Valencia,
04:32Spain, and even some in Portugal and Germany.
04:39Even the trade unions are cautiously optimistic, despite their concerns.
04:44That's because the Spanish government also took care of more than 30,000 workers who
04:48were suddenly jobless.
04:52We demanded a social safety net, like coverage through short-time work benefits due to force
04:57majeure, which can also be processed very quickly.
05:00People apply for short-time work and since they are in the affected area, it gets approved.
05:06We're talking about an approval rate of more than 98%.
05:12Despite the masses of scrap and waste that are still being removed, the region's outlook
05:16is slowly improving, as can now be seen from this street shortly after the flood.
05:22But the region still has an image problem abroad.
05:28This meant media coverage at the national and international level.
05:32Valencia was all over the front pages and on the TV news.
05:35But it turns out that the actual brand of Valencia, the city, is still completely intact.
05:41The problem is that 10 minutes away from Valencia, you find a completely desolate area
05:47that looks like it's been bombed.
05:52Valencia is trying to coax tourists back with an ad campaign that shows how the mud passed
05:58it by without a trace.
06:00Without visitors, the city centre is much emptier than usual at this time of year.
