Walter Finch
MERCADONA has come under fire for claiming flooded towns ‘were fine’ before a driver had to be rescued from torrential floods that have killed dozens in Valencia.
Video footage emerged yesterday of a helicopter rescue team swooping in and battling torrential waters to help a Mercadona driver stranded in the floods.
The dramatic clip, released by Valencia firefighters at 12pm yesterday (Tuesday), shows the helicopter dropping off two rescuers several metres away from the distressed Mercadona van.
It then circles off as the heroic firefighters wade through the torrential waters and emerge with the driver.
But the clip prompted a backlash online as many asked why a delivery van had been sent out into such life-threatening conditions in the first place.
A spokesperson for Mercadona told the Olive Press that ‘the town was fine’ when the driver went out to make the order.
“Since yesterday and today, Mercadona has been following the instructions of the relevant authorities to ensure the safety of all its workers.”
“We only received the emergency notice for the province of Valencia at around 8pm,” she said.
“At the time when the delivery man went to deliver the order, the town was back to normal. There was a flood which, unfortunately, affected our delivery man.
“But thanks to the emergency services the worker was rescued. He is now fine.”
She concluded: “Mercadona looks after the safety of its workers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”
A massive Civil Protection alert ordering people to stay at home went out on all mobile phones in the region at around 8pm last night from the Generalitat de Valencia.
Yet the video of the rescued driver – plus many more of cars being washed away and the first fatalities had been coming in all day.
Meanwhile, local weather service Aemet Valencia upgraded its previous orange alert to the maximum ‘Red Alert’ level at 7.36am yesterday – a full 12 hours before.
There have also been reports of workers for restaurants, Glovo and other food delivery services being forced to wade out into the floods in Valencia and other affected towns.
“Glovo, Uber Eats and Mercadona continued to operate, causing many colleagues to risk their lives for €3 per order,” said a spokesperson for workers’ rights group Riders X Derechos.
Similarly, employees of Zara parent company Inditex have complained via a local trade union that they were not aware of the apocalyptic weather because they are ‘forbidden to pick up their phones during their shifts.’
“It could be understandable if the company had immediately alerted its workers to the dangers – but they didn’t,” said Beatriu Cardona, a spokesperson for the Intersindical Valenciana.
“Thus these workers were not aware that, for those who lived in the affected areas, their homes and possessions were at risk of being destroyed in the floods.”
