The government opens the door for victims of Dana Adam to be treated as a work accident, although there is still one step left.

Last Tuesday, Minister Elma Saiz announced that the labor consequences of disasters like Dana Adam will receive more protection. The rule is Royal Decree-Law 31/2026, published today in the BOE and in force since yesterday, Wednesday, October 21. It’s worth reading the fine print: the text does not create a new benefit for victims in Valencia, but rather leaves the door open to do so.

What the BOE Says New additional provision 64 of the General Social Security Act allows regulations with force of law approved after a disaster to consolidate benefits such as temporary disability, permanent disability or death and occupational contingency survivor benefits. In practice, leave will be treated like a work accident: 75% of the regulatory base from the next day and without prior contributions. Proposition protects it by keeping it constant to provide a homogenous, immediate and predictable response.

What the BOE does not do is declare Dana Adam as that disaster or specified amount. This requires a specific value, such as 2024, which comes with the declaration of a severely affected area. The government maintains that the measure can be activated without taking extraordinary measures; The first legal analysis read it as an endorsement. The decree must be ratified by Congress. And it’s not to be confused with the two new special sick leave situations it’s introducing (disabling menopause and gender violence), which will take effect on December 1.

context Adam is the third wing that AEMET has located on the Mediterranean coast in less than a month. We’ve been counting it for months, from the explosive cyclone expected in January to the 30°C “gasoline” pooling in the Mediterranean and the tropical cyclone that was trying to form in front of Barcelona. Today, a study by AEMET and CSIC on that episode concluded that its results do not demonstrate tropical cyclogenesis, but they fit that hypothesis. We also told how Gandia, Oliva and Forna were flooded with this same grain.

Where we are today. Government President Dana Adam put the death toll at five, bringing the total to 720 liters per square metre. In Ibiza, for example, 100 liters of rain fell in an hour, the wettest October in 75 years. Although the notices had already disappeared, Sánchez announced from Oliva (where one died) that the Council of Ministers would declare the devastated municipalities a seriously affected area, facilitating the mobilization of economic resources and public procurement.

This week’s forecast. According to AEMET, stability, clear skies and seasonal normal temperatures below 26 degrees will prevail except for Murcia and Malaga. Today a rain front over Galicia, the Cantabrian Sea and the Pyrenees; Rain will return over the weekend, especially in the far north on Sunday. The first snow has already arrived in the Picos de Europa and Sanabria: AEMET’s weekly forecast points to above-normal temperatures between October 26 and November 1.

Step by step to get payment as soon as possible. As long as there is no specific decree or active aid package, the general rule applies:

1. get discharge If the injury caused you physical or emotional harm, go to your family doctor or emergency room and ask for the report and sick leave report to reflect the original.
2. Notify as soon as possible. Provide a copy of the report to the company (typical period is three days). The self-employed manage this with their mutual insurance company or INSS.
3. See how it is processed. If it is an accident, work-related or not, no prior citation is required; If it is a general illness, 180 days of contribution in the last five years is requested.
4. Calculate the charge. Accident at work: 75% from next day. Non-work accident or general illness: nothing for the first three days, 60% from the 4th to the 20th and 75% from the 21st. The company pays until the 15th and then Social Security or mutual insurance, usually through payroll.
5. If you are late, Complain in writing to the company and ask INSS for direct payment. Save damage reports, reports and images: In 2024, assimilation was applied to casualties due to grain-derived damage.
6. If you are not sick but cannot work, Not the way down. The alternative is an ERTE due to force majeure, which is processed by the company, or benefits to stop activity if you are self-employed; Both were strengthened by a specific decree in 2024.

And don’t forget to take pictures and video of the damage, both for your insurer and if it’s in charge of the Insurance Compensation Consortium. The more visual content you have, the better the file will tie together. Losses due to water and power outages will be met through estimates, I am speaking from personal experience.

All that can be done today is to request a cancellation and process it in the normal way. What is charged and from when will depend on the rule in the case of grains, which happened in 2024, with an affected area declared. Official information is at Info Dana de la Moncloa.

Picture | Europa Press

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