The writer Santiago Posteguillo it was last week Senate give a lecture on the importance of Hispania. The author of the trilogy Africanneighbor of Valenceshared a moving story about how he and his partner experienced DANA Day at Paiporta on October 29 and the following days, until he moved on foot “with his suitcase” towards Valencia after “a spectacle of devastation” like he had never seen in his life.
Nearly a month after the devastating flood, which has already caused more than 220 deaths, the water expert Ancient Rome started a reflection on what happened: “Look, in the first century BC, politicians stabbed between them, and now I am going to make a generalization which is unfair because I believe that there are politicians who are honest, but the feeling that exists in all the cities where I come from (in the Community Valencian), is that the politicians of the 21st century are stabbing the people.
That fateful Tuesday, Posteguillo was in his home in Paiporta, considered zero point of the DANA, and went up to the terrace, where he checked that the Poyo Ravineabout fifty meters from his house, “was overflowing” and “it had not rained”.
Video | The shocking story of Santiago Posteguillo, who experienced the overflowing of the Poyo ravine: “We saw people disappearing into the water”
At first, he decided to go out and look for his car, which he had parked outside near the metro station, but several neighbors convinced him that it was not a “Good idea” change the location of the vehicle. “I found the car four days After one kilometer from where I parked it,” said Prix Planeta. “But it’s the least I can do.”
“In 13 minutes, there was a brutal torrent two meters of uncontrolled water which carried away branches, trees, cars, everything. An industrial warehouse located in front of our building was destroyed; It took away the front door, the entire front wall, the entire store next door… Six hours of non-stop torrenting. “We saw people disappearing into the water.”
That night, the writer says, the neighbors went to bed without water or electricity, thinking that “logically” At dawn, the Civil Guard, firefighters and the army would already be on the ground. “But at dawn, there was no one there,” he lamented. What there was, in the middle of the square, was the corpse of a young woman.
On the second day, at nightfall, there was “looting” similar to those in the film The purge —“the same”—. But they still hoped the authorities would get closer the next day. “How come no one comes within 48 hours, can someone explain to me? In Spain? In the 21st century?” he asked.
For this reason, “at the third dawn”, when there was still “no one institutionally”, only volunteers, he took the computer on which he writes his novel, his notes and dragged it with his partner for miles and miles until they arrive in Valencia, where he has a floor. Along the way, he sees “dead bodies that had not yet been evacuated, overturned cars, destroyed buildings…”.
“You can’t imagine what these people are going through…the institutional help they need isn’t coming. Thank God the city is different, but the city with shovels can’t do it,” a- he continued. “How can institutions be so miserable?” he asked.
