The impact of the DANA on October 29 is measured not only in mud but also in unprecedented economic paralysis. According to reports from the Valencia Chamber of Commerce and the Generalitat, the disaster affected more than 54,000 companies and put the livelihood of over 190,000 workers at risk due to ERTEs, reduced working hours, and layoffs. With nearly 10,000 local shops and businesses devastated, the reconstruction of the ground zero requires a specialized workforce that the current market cannot supply.
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In this context, Fundación Naturgy’s Sumando Energías por Valencia program acts as a bridge to employability and provides a new opportunity to people like Néstor, who saw his livelihood swept away by the water in just four minutes.
A new professional opportunity
Like every day for months, Néstor goes to class. “I never thought I would study again at my age,” he says. He is 56 years old. “And much less in this gas sector, which I wouldn’t have said was for me.” Before, he was a painter, cook, head chef, salesperson, and photographer. He had a photography studio for 17 years and it remains one of his great passions. Another is learning and manual creativity. “I have always been creative and good at making things with my hands.”
The photographer’s eye has always helped him see things in perspective, and his touch has led him to understand that nothing is immovable in this life. The helm of his life turned sharply on the day of the DANA. The flood swept away his job, the one he believed would carry him to retirement.
When he remembers that day, Néstor’s memory works with the precision of an analog camera. The DANA forced him to go through another darkness: unemployment at 56 years old. But “it’s all a matter of how you look at things,” he says. “I saw it as an opportunity to focus my life on another sector, to learn something new and train myself.”
Certified training to return to the market
Today Néstor no longer works in the tele-sales sector, as he did before the DANA, but studies at Fundación Naturgy’s allied training center in the battle against unemployment, with a blowtorch in his hands welding gas pipes.
“This is comprehensive training and there is demand,” explains Vicente Ángel Casal, trainer of Sumando Energías por Valencia. “Here the goal is to train professionals in strategic sectors such as gas, solar panels, and energy rehabilitation. It’s not just assistance; it’s giving a real expectation to those who lost everything.”
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With Néstor, it’s easy. He is used to retraining, reinventing himself. He has the grit of someone who has climbed slippery surfaces and overcome personal and economic crises. “In this life, you must not be afraid of change,” he says. “Okay, you shouldn’t be afraid, but you do have to like what you do,” he clarifies. “Photography captivated me from the start and this fulfills me,” he says proudly pointing to the weld he has finished, as if developing one of his photographs.
More than a year has passed since the DANA left Néstor without a job, and today he looks comfortable among pipes, blowtorches, and gas. But he still has much to learn. “The important things in life require time and proper lighting,” he explains. To date, he already has the B license for gas installation. He can stop there or continue training; it depends on him. There are various trainings where you can learn to install photovoltaic solar panels and continue your studies with other training in energy rehabilitation of buildings.
“This is what the market is asking for,” Vicente Casal, the teacher, reminds Néstor and the other students. Faced with the choice ahead, Néstor does not hesitate: he will keep learning. “You have to trust yourself. Try to bring out the best in you and train well. That is the fight.”
Sumando Energías por Valencia
A bridge to green employment
The Employment axis of Fundación Naturgy’s Sumando Energías por Valencia program focuses on providing technical tools to those whose professional trajectory has been interrupted by the disaster. The program offers free and certified training in sectors with high employability and a sustainable future.
The program includes training in green jobs for people affected by the DANA, who can choose one or more specialties from a catalog containing several different trainings related to the energy sector, highlighting official certifications for gas installers, installation of photovoltaic solar modules, and energy rehabilitation of homes.
This is professional training that not only seeks quick reintegration but guarantees that students can work legally and safely in a market with a structural deficit of qualified technicians, turning the affected themselves into the protagonists of the reconstruction of their territory.
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