The relatives of the victims of the dana demand at the state funeral that “truth, respect and humanity prevail” and have pointed out “those who omit their duty.” On the day that marks one year since the flood that took the lives of 237 people, three relatives have participated in the tribute held in Valencia, in front of more than 600 relatives of the deceased.
Andrea Ferrari, Naiara Chuliá and Virginia Ortiz spoke in the auditorium of the City of Arts and Sciences that hosts the event. They have given voice to the rest of the family members, to the fatal victims, in an act presided over by the kings, a presence that has not prevented strong criticism of Carlos Mazón. The president of the Generalitat was greeted with cries of “coward” and “murderer” at the beginning of the funeral. They have called him a “cowardly rat”, urged him to appear before the judge; and upon his departure they have demanded his resignation, in especially tense moments. Screams alternated with constant silence, a tension that the victims carried behind them. Pain hovered throughout the room.
Andrea Ferrari lost her mother, Eva María Canut Montoro, in Valencia. “Talking about her is talking about light and love in its purest form,” said her daughter, who began her speech by remembering that the victims still feel “the emptiness” of the days of the Dana. “Like my mother, each person we lost leaves an indelible memory, a broken family that misses them and a story to finish,” he stated.
“As long as there is memory there will be no forgetting,” Ferrari assured. In his speech, he highlighted that the state funeral “is not only an act of remembrance, but an act that helps us live with the same courage, the same strength and the same light with which (the victims) lived.” “A year later, calm has not yet arrived, but we know that it does not come alone, but is built with effort, with hope and with unity.” “The most important thing right now is that truth, respect and humanity prevail,” Ferrari concluded.
Naiara Chulià lost her husband, Slim Regaieg, father of her two children. Regaieg died when he was trying to get home, in Bétera (València), after returning from work. The woman recalled during her speech that her husband arrived from Tunisia 25 years ago: first to Mallorca, where they met; later, to Valencia, the land of Chulià, where they bought a house and settled. “And when everything was going well, when we were stabilizing with wonderful children and many dreams to fulfill, one day you leave home… And you don't come back.” It was October 29, 2024, and a year later, he still reviews their last conversation.
“There are many broken souls here today, united by pain, but I have hope that one day we will find a reason to move forward,” Chulià said. “In my case, they are my children. They have lost their father; they cannot also lose their mother. It is hard to educate away from pain, anger and sadness when you feel like this.”
Chulià has expressed his gratitude to all those who listen and remember the victims. “May the memory of those we love always be light in our darkest days,” he assured. “Sadness invades me when I see that life goes on, even if you are not here.”
“Floods are in Spain the natural phenomenon that causes the most deaths, but this phenomenon was not the cause of the catastrophe we have suffered,” said Victoria Ortiz, niece of one of the Letur victims. “It is the one who omits his duty, knowing that his omission could lead to the loss of human life, who commits the primary act that results in these deaths,” the young woman said.
“United we will do justice,” Ortiz said in his brief and forceful speech. An intervention in which he has claimed to want to “live in peace”, a peace that “is only possible in societies that have freedom, equality, dignity and security.” “We must not leave the direction of our society in the hands of those who distance us from that full concept of peace. The power has always been ours.”
King Felipe VI was in charge of closing the event. He did so with a brief speech in which he demanded “that something like this never happen again.” In his name and in that of the queen, he has conveyed his condolences to the victims: “Every name, every story, every person, is part of a memory that belongs to all of us and that together we must and want to preserve. They are the reason, the heart and the meaning of this day.” At the close of the event, a portion of the victims once again attacked the Valencian president, who left the room with his Executive en masse. They carried photographs of their relatives, and they remembered that they did not want the president there.
