On Wednesday, October 30, images of the disaster were played in a loop on television: the town where Loyola Pérez de Villegas Muñiz grew up, Torrent, as well as the towns of her friends (Paiporta, Picanya, Aldaia, Catarroja, etc.) were hit hard. because of the floods. The next day, the photographer began documenting this unprecedented crisis. Born in 1995 in Valencia (Spain), Loyola Pérez de Villegas Muñiz works on social issues in Spain and abroad for local media and international agencies. In an interview with WorldHe remembers his field work and the consequences of the floods in his region of origin.
What was work like in the field when you arrived?
It was difficult to reach the affected areas, everything was flooded and full of mud. With the reporter World Luc Bronner, we usually parked near an open road and from there we walked towards the affected communities. As we arrived on the second day after the floods, the organization was still not very good, we were able to access certain places that, a few days later, would not have been accessible.
The atmosphere was chaotic, hundreds of people in the streets, fire trucks, police, helicopters, dozens of cars stacked on top of each other. Most of the time there was no network. In Valencia, on the other side of the ravine that separates the city from the affected towns, life continued as if nothing had happened.
How has being Valencian and living near the disaster influenced your work in the field?
This was without a doubt the biggest challenge for me. I am used to working on issues that, despite their toughness, do not affect me personally. But this time it was different. I did my best to emotionally detach myself from my friends’ homes, towns, and businesses, all destroyed by the water.
Meeting loved ones affected, devastated by their losses and still in shock, constantly brought me back to my roots and all the memories I spent in these places before they disappeared. I think it also motivated me to do my job the best I could because I felt indebted to them. I was constantly torn between the desire to photograph everything and the desire to take a broom and remove the mud, but I also knew that at that moment Luc’s words accompanied by my photographs were the best help I could give them.
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