Spain introduces 4-day paid climate leaves in the aftermath of deadly Valencia floods

A month after the devastating floods that killed over 200 people, Spain’s government has approved “paid climate leaves” for up to four days to allow workers to avoid travelling during weather emergencies. Several companies received major backlash for ordering employees to keep working despite the red alert issued by the national weather agency during the October 29 catastrophe.

At that time, the firms argued that the authorities failed to inform them sufficiently and was “too late” in sending the telephone alert about the poor weather conditions. While announcing the latest move, Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz told public broadcaster RTVE that the new measure aims to “regulate in accordance with the climate emergency” so that “no worker must run risks”.

Díaz emphasised that if emergency authorities raised an alarm about treacherous weather conditions, “the worker must refrain from going to work”. They can also resort to reduced working days if they crossed the four-day period. “In the face of climate denialism from the right, the Spanish government is committed to green policies,” the labour minister averred.

A law implemented in Canada

This is not the first time a country is allowing employees to take “paid climate leave”. The legislation was inspired by similar laws in Canada, RTVE reported. Meanwhile, Spain’s economy minister Carlos Cuerpo warned the cost of extreme weather events could double by 2050 as the government confirmed €2.3bn of fresh aid for flood victims.

Over the years, multiple experts warned that extreme rainfall is more common and more intense because of human-caused climate breakdown across most of the world, particularly in Europe, most of Asia, central and eastern North America, and parts of South America, Africa and Australia.

Since warmer air can hold more water vapour, flooding has most likely become more frequent and severe in these locations. But the weather conditions can be also affected by human factors such as the existence of flood defences and land use.

Experts said that all but eight of the flood deaths were in Valencia, happened because the system was simply overwhelmed. It is important to note that while conservative regional president Carlos Mazón has conceded mistakes were made, he refused calls to step down from his office.

Not only this, torrential rains hit parts of Spain again two weeks after the floods, forcing 3,000 people to evacuate their homes in Málaga.

With inputs from AFP.