Alex Trelinski
THE September 2019 floods that hit Alicante Province and Murcia were Spain’s costliest natural disaster in a five years period.
The annual report of the Aon Foundation priced the damage at €2.3 billion out of an overall total of €12 billion between 2016 and 2020.
Ten days of Storm Gloria across Spain in January 2020 cost €1.3 billion.
The third-highest cost of €272 million was caused by storms and floods hitting the south-east of the country a week before Christmas 2016.
It’s the first time that such a comprehensive study has been carried out in the country.
It also revealed that a large number of people had no insurance to pay for the cost of damage suffered.
The findings were presented at a conference jointly organised between the Aon Foundation and Spain’s directorate of Civil Protection and Emergencies.
The cost calculations include the impact on budget items, grants and aid, as well as the impact on households and the agricultural sector.
Agriculture was the most affected with 35% of the total losses followed by individual households accounting for 31.6% of the total.
A big issue uncovered by Aon was the large extent of under-insuring.
Only around half of damages incurred were insured, adding up to €6.2 billion in paid-out claims over the five-year period.
80% of non-agricultural damage was not insured.
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