Madrid honours more than 200 drivers who served after the DANA in Valencia

They were not wearing emergency uniforms, nor were cameras focused on them during the chaos, but their work kept an entire community moving. This Thursday, the Community of Madrid paid tribute to more than 200 drivers from the Regional Transport Consortium (CRTM) who voluntarily travelled to Valencia after the DANA of October 2024 to fill the gap left by the collapse of local transport.

For eight months, these professionals became the only means of transport for thousands of citizens trapped between flooded roads and an inoperative metro. With 45 buses, coordinators and technical teams, the operation made it possible to link localities such as Torrent, Paiporta, Llíria and Ribarroja with the Valencian capital every day, guaranteeing access to hospitals, schools and workplaces. In total: more than 2.2 million journeys and 600,000 kilometres travelled.

The official event was held at the headquarters of the Regional Department of Housing, Transport and Infrastructure. There, Regional Minister Jorge Rodrigo awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Dos de Mayo to the workers who were still in Valencia when the original distinction was awarded. “You did not only drive buses: you opened paths where everything seemed at a standstill,” said Rodrigo, visibly moved.

The tribute was also attended by representatives of the Valencian Government, such as regional minister Vicente Martínez Mus, who stressed the importance of collaboration between territories when urgency knows no borders. There were no grandiloquent speeches, but there was unanimous gratitude: that of those who know that, in the midst of disaster, a voluntary gesture can change the lives of thousands.