Yesterday, Thursday, Jordi Hereu visited the facilities of Industrias Alegre accompanied by Rebeca Torró, Secretary of Industry. The two representatives of the administration wanted to know firsthand the extent of the damage suffered, so our CEO, Enrique Careaga, and our commercial director, Monica Alegre, were responsible for accompanying them on a tour of different parts of our factory and warehouses. There they were able to get a clear idea of the state in which the facilities and machinery were left after the flood of last October 29.

Seeing the damage to understand its magnitude

During their tour, the policy makers were impressed by the devastating impact of the flood. The images of the facilities, full of inoperative machinery, and the traces of the flooding, which reached up to two meters in some points, are overwhelming. In the words of Mónica Alegre, who accompanied the minister, "it was crucial for them to see the reality from the inside to understand the magnitude of the recovery we are facing and the help we need".

In addition to talking to the plant managers, the visitors chatted with employees who were busy cleaning and restoring the plant and who told them firsthand about the efforts made to recover production in record time.

First steps: restoring supply to customers

It is precisely the involvement of the workforce that has allowed Industrias Alegre to achieve a first objective: to reestablish the supply to our customers. Careaga informed the minister that, so far, the company has recovered practically all the molds and has activated production in external companies to guarantee the production of key parts, such as those for Ford's Kuga model.

A separate point is the production line for the battery tray for Lucid Motors, which, due to its extraordinary complexity, will have to be repaired in I. Alegre's own facilities.

Aids to come back stronger

But the objective is to bring the plant back to full capacity, a task that is expected to be hard and costly. That is why Careaga insisted on the need for the administration to allocate both economic and financial aid so that the affected companies can face the recovery. Especially those in the automotive sector. Because of its strategic nature and because of the moment it is living in full transition to the electric vehicle.

In this sense, Minister Hereu expressed his commitment to the damaged companies and already began to talk about measures such as zero interest loans, non-repayable funds and special credit lines. "We are here to ensure that Valencian companies not only recover, but come back stronger," he stated.

After the minister's visit, we received a visit from the mayor of Albal, José Miguel Ferris, who also showed his interest in our state of recovery.