Authorities in Andalusia, southern Spain, have inspected 976 public buildings and homes across the Granada region following a recent series of earthquakes, finding that 43 properties, or 4.4% of those checked, are unsafe for use and have been rated red.
The regional government's housing councillor, Rocio Diaz, gave the update during a visit to the Inturjoven hostel on Ramon y Cajal street in the city of Granada, which is temporarily housing families evacuated from their homes as a precaution.
Of the 976 buildings reviewed, 705, or 72.2%, were rated green, meaning they showed no significant damage. Another 217 buildings, or 22.2% of the total inspected, were rated yellow, meaning they have damage requiring further, more thorough review and preventive measures. No building has been rated black, the category reserved for structures considered a total loss.
Focus on Las Gabias
In the municipality of Las Gabias, one of the areas hit hardest by the tremors, the regional government has called in the Eduardo Torroja Institute for Construction Science to carry out specialised diagnostic tests on the short columns of six buildings that have had to be evacuated.
Insurance claims top 12,500
Spain's Insurance Compensation Consortium has received 12,532 claims for material damage, most of them for homes, and has given a preliminary estimate that the cost of the claims will exceed 35 million euros.
Of the total claims, 11,719 relate to homes and residents' associations, 17 to vehicles, 609 to shops, warehouses and other commercial risks, 152 to offices and 34 to industrial risks. The claims come from 74 municipalities in Granada province, ten in Malaga province and nine in Jaen province.
Aid for affected towns
The Granada Provincial Council has announced an Extraordinary Economic Cooperation Programme to help cover costs that town councils in the province have had to take on because of the earthquakes.
The council's president, Francisco Rodriguez, presented the measure as a way of supporting municipalities and speeding up a return to normality, describing it as building on the response the council has provided since the early hours of the emergency.
Town councils in the province that have had to carry out extraordinary work to guarantee public safety, protect residents, restore services or public spaces, or address other needs arising from the earthquakes will be eligible for the programme.
Expenses that can be funded under the scheme include extraordinary technical inspections of buildings, structures and infrastructure, as well as the fees of architects, technical architects, engineers and other professionals required for the work.
