Rescue of Movable assets and Damage Assessment after the 2024 Floods in the Valencian Community – part 1

Chuliá Blanco, Inmaculada Ph, Technician specialised in conservation and restoration of painting conservator, Emergencies and risk management for cultural heritage; Contreras Zamorano, Gemma María, Ph, Director; Patricia Real Machado, Conservator specialized in graphic works and archival material, Valencian Institute of Conservation, Restoration and Research; Sánchez Hernampérez, Arsenio; Conservator specialised in graphic works and archival material, Institute for Cultural Heritage of Spain; Villar, Cristina; MA Degree, Technician specialised in conservation and restoration; General Directorate for Cultural Heritage and Fine Arts, Ministry of Culture, Spain.

ISSN 2975-190X – ISBN 978-88-6864-548-9

On 29 October 2024, the south-eastern region of the Iberian Peninsula experienced a severe weather event, characterised by torrential and persistent rainfall associated with a DANA (Depresión Aisladaen Niveles Altos, i.e. an Isolated Depression at High Levels).

This severe event that hit the region of Valencia produced maximum rainfall accumulations in excess of 300 mm in large areas of the interior of the province. The protection of movable cultural heritage, including works of art, historical documents, and other heritage assets, has become even more crucial given the magnitude of the damage caused by the 2024 disaster.

The objective of this first article is to analyse the strategies developed in rescue operations, highlighting the need for urgent and specialized intervention.

The second part, to be published in the sixth issue of the PROCULTHER-NET 2 Technical Bulletin (November 2025), will evaluate the most effective methodologies for addressing conservation challenges in emergency situations, assessing their suitability in the context of large-scale disasters.

In PROCULTHER-NET 2 Project. Technical Bulletin N. 5, July 2025, pp 42-53.

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