The King and Queen of Spain presided over a ceremony also attended by high-ranking Spanish politicians.
ADVERTISEMENTThe ceremony, held in the cathedral of Valencia, was attended by hundreds of relatives of the deceased, and was presided over by the King and Queen of Spain. Several high-ranking Spanish politicians were also present.
Representing the government were the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, and Pilar Bernabé, a government delegate in the Valencian Community.
Spanish President Pedro Sánchez, who was the target of residents’ ire when he visited the epicentre of the affected area on 3 November, was not present.
Sources from the Archbishopric, which organised the funeral, indicated that 400 relatives of the victims were in attendance.
They were provided a space in the central nave of the building, which they were able to access hours before the start of the ceremony, scheduled to begin at 7pm local time.
The mayors of dozens of municipalities that were affected by the tragic floods at the end of last October, which killed more than 200 people and left a trail of destruction, were also invited to the funeral.
Among those in attendance was the president of the Valencian Community, Carlos Mazón, who acknowledged that he had not yet met with the families of the deceased out of respect for their mourning.
The funeral was not without controversy, as some of the victims’ loved ones said the event could be used by some politicians « clean up » their image, given what they called a chaotic and ill-advised management of the disaster.
Amid tight security measures, some of the victims’ relatives cried out against the politicians outside cathedral, calling them « murderers ».
The memorial service was led by the Archbishop of Valencia, Enrique Benavent, and was attended by parish priests from the affected localities, Valencian bishops, the Episcopal Council and the Chapter of the Cathedral.
After listening to the hymn of the coronation of the Virgen de los Desamparados, the King and Queen of Spain offered words of condolences to the victims’ families.
