Girona City Council has joined an emergency appeal for people affected by the two earthquakes that struck Venezuela on 24 June, and is asking residents to support aid through financial donations rather than sending clothes, food or other goods. The move matters for Girona residents, including the city’s Venezuelan community, because the council is directing local solidarity towards the channels it says can respond fastest on the ground.

In a statement published on Tuesday 30 June, the council said it was backing the call issued by the Fons Català de Cooperació al Desenvolupament, a Catalan municipal cooperation body. The council cited the two quakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 recorded on 24 June and said they had caused serious human and material damage in several parts of the country.

According to the official Venezuelan seismology agency, the Fundación Venezolana de Investigaciones Sismológicas, known as Funvisis, and the United States Geological Survey, the US federal earth science agency, Caracas and the states of La Guaira and Yaracuy were among the affected areas. Funvisis also reported a magnitude 4.2 aftershock in La Guaira on 29 June, showing the situation was still active at the time of the Girona statement.

“We want to tell the people of Venezuela, and also Venezuelan neighbours who live among us, that they are not alone,” said Aminata Sabaly, Girona’s councillor for cooperation.

City council tells donors not to send goods

The council said the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation advises against donations in kind, including blankets, clothes, tents and food. It said those shipments can overload logistics, complicate emergency management and fail to match what people actually need.

Instead, Girona is recommending cash donations through specialised humanitarian organisations with an operational presence in the affected area. The council said essential supplies can often be bought more quickly and more appropriately in neighbouring countries or close to the disaster zone, while shipping goods from Catalonia can carry high economic and environmental costs.

The council also said aid should follow the internationally recognised humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence. Readers can find more about how this newsroom handles official sourcing and verification in our Source Transparency page.

How residents can donate through the Fons Català appeal

The Fons Català has activated an emergency appeal aimed at town halls, supramunicipal institutions and the public. Girona said residents who want to contribute should use the official channels set out in that campaign.

  • Bizum: 08678
  • Bank transfer: ES91 0182 6035 4102 0160 8531

The original appeal was launched by the Fons Català, not by Girona itself, and the donation details published by the council match the campaign information issued by the body. Anyone who wants to verify how to contact this newsroom about public-interest reporting can use our Contact Us page.

Primary sources: web.girona.cat, United States Geological Survey (USGS), Ajuntament de Montcada i Reixach. Reported by Fons Català de Cooperació al Desenvolupament, Fundación Venezolana de Investigaciones Sismológicas (Funvisis), Presidencia de la República de Venezuela.