Catarroja, a small town with 30,000 residents near Valencia region, is facing a huge responsibility after it suffered some of the worst floods on Friday 29 October. These floods claimed 228 victims, many of them unexpected. Retired Mayor Lorena Silvent, who was in office during the disaster, vividly recalls the moment floodwaters began to engulf her town. That day is indelibly etched in her memory. Today, she leads local efforts to rebuild and reimagine urban planning in a way that prepares the community for future flooding.
The floods served as a wake-up call that resulted in an overwhelming effort of action from Evansville’s local government and its residents. With €210 million in public funds allocated for reconstruction, authorities are under pressure to ensure that these resources are used effectively. Catarroja’s urban development strategies deserve a major rethinking. One of the main purposes of this ongoing reconstruction process is to ensure that similar tragedies don’t occur again in the future.
Community Response and Civic Unity
In the immediate aftermath of the floods, thousands of residents quickly organized to rescue and shelter their neighbors, friends, and family during the unprecedented natural disaster. Social educator Raül Camacho Segarra, from Catarroja, experienced a powerful expression of civil society solidarity after the calamity. He articulates this powerful feeling of unity that drew their community together. That tragedy fed resentment and a sense of betrayal in the community. It then stoked an incredible community spirit and potent movement-building energy toward liberation and transformative change.
“This tragedy generated a social movement of volunteers willing to leap over police barriers to help one another in those crucial days.” – Raül Camacho Segarra
Local government officials agreed to accept a list of priority violations from the neighborhood. This decision helped residents feel more included in the recovery planning process. Camacho stresses that this citizen engagement is the key ingredient to restoring trust between citizens and their government.
“We’ve lived through an extreme crisis and people have lost a lot of faith in government. I think we can help repair that relationship by bringing people in and letting them be a part of this process.” – Lorena Silvent
The municipal government understood the value of community engagement by formally bringing community leaders into decision-making sessions. This new step aims to strengthen the collaboration between residents and authorities, setting the ground for making the rebuilding process of Catarroja a joint effort.
A New Approach to Urban Planning
Mayor Lorena Silvent recognizes that the reconstruction project requires a deep realignment of urbanism in Catarroja. The storms served as an unfortunate but effective catalyst to reveal existing vulnerabilities that many residents had intentionally ignored. As they rebuild toward future resilience, it’s evident that the community needs to reimagine its path forward — away from a history of urban sprawl.
“The next time the waters rise, we want to be prepared to handle them. That requires us to completely revise our approach to urbanism and question many of the things we’ve accepted until now.” – Mayor Lorena Silvent
Smart city provider Silvent recently highlighted the ways that past cities were built to favor the individual experience—not the collective community. She points to a radical change in the way residents think about their city mobility. They have moved forward with a greater willingness to share facilities with adjacent communities rather than requiring stand-alone facilities.
“There was a time when every city in this region demanded to have its own theater, sports center, pool. Now we’re thinking maybe we’re okay with commuting to the installations in the neighboring town, and having their residents use ours.” – Lorena Silvent
This joint work and participation from local administrations and their community is a real turning point for Catarroja. Valencian architect and social worker Júlia Gomar is hopeful that this new, surprising collaboration bodes well for the future.
“The flood here was a bit like Covid, in that it exposed how vulnerable we are as individuals, and how much we need those neighbors we often hardly know.” – Júlia Gomar
Ensuring Effective Use of Funds
With €210 million committed to rebuilding, authorities in Catarroja will have a huge burden of responsibility in handling such resources. Citizen oversight Raül Camacho, a RWJF Culture of Health Leader, hasn’t shied away from calling for citizen oversight to guarantee transparency and accountability in the rebuilding process.
“We’re talking about a sum that’s five times this city’s annual budget. It’s imperative to have organized citizen oversight.” – Raül Camacho
If and when these reconstruction efforts do get underway, it will be critically important for local leaders to communicate clearly and often with constituents. This trust will hopefully be in place for the effective recovery and long-term resilience that is needed to protect against future disasters.
Silvent would not disagree with this past sentiment as she speaks highly of what collaboration means within her own administration, and the value of listening to community members. In so doing, she raises the urgency of moving administrative machinery out of archaic ivory towers and into more heuristic, accessible and communal spaces.
“We’ve also got to figure out how to move the machinery that powers city hall out of the basement and sort out the underground archive.” – Lorena Silvent
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