The Council of Ministers has approved the declaration of a civil protection emergency zone for various areas of nine autonomous communities due to adverse weather conditions between 25 March and 22 June. The regions affected by this declaration are Aragon, the Balearics, Castile and Leon, the Canary Islands, La Rioja, the Valencian Community, Galicia, Andalusia and Castile-La Mancha, according to details provided after the Council meeting by the Third Vice-President of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen.
This declaration is equivalent to the previous designation of ‘catastrophic area’. The events that led to the declaration, mainly adverse weather conditions, involve ‘the classification of aid for personal injury, damage to homes or municipal infrastructure,’ added the minister.
In its previous approval of severely affected areas on 1 April, the Council included territories in eleven communities that suffered phenomena of various kinds between 16 September 2024 and 24 March 2025, although it did not include the October storm, which was the subject of a specific agreement.
In the middle of October last year, the DANA (Isolated High Level Depression) that hit Mallorca early put emergency services on high alert. Roads were closured, over eight rescues carried out, and 77 emergency operations mounted in a matter of hours . The DANA brought intense rainfall and storms to Mallorca with up to 120.7 l/m² recorded at the Ermita de Manacor by 6.50am, according to the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet).
One of the areas most affected by the storm was been Porto Cristo, where the area close to the port was completely flooded. The amount of water registered during the rainfall caused the Torrent de Llebrona to overflow on the road to Les Coves, dragging boats moored in the port of Manacor, taking tables and chairs from the restaurants and leaving cars floating and full of water.
As a result of these events, there has been damage to people, infrastructure, and public and private property, which justifies the intervention of the General State Administration based on the principle of inter-territorial solidarity and in a subsidiary manner, complementary to the actions that, in the exercise of their powers, have been entrusted to the territorial administrations, as indicated by the Ministry of the Interior.
The agreement of the Council of Ministers includes direct aid from the Ministry of the Interior to alleviate personal injury; material damage to housing and household goods; expenses incurred by local authorities; damage to industrial, commercial and service establishments; and to individuals or legal entities that have provided personal services or goods.
It also provides for the possibility of the Autonomous Central Traffic Authority approving an exemption from fees for procedures such as duplicates of vehicle registration or driving licences, as well as the deregistration of damaged vehicles and the issuance of identity cards.
Other measures falling within the competence of other ministries may include certain tax benefits (Ministry of Finance), labour and social security measures (Ministries of Labour and Social Economy, and Inclusion, Social Security and Migration) and aid to local authorities (Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory).
The remaining government departments, within the scope of their powers, may declare special action zones and emergency works to repair damage caused to public infrastructure located in areas affected by these civil protection emergencies.