LETTER FROM MADRID
Many believed they were incapable of putting their cell phones down for more than ten minutes, too egocentric and individualistic to get involved in a cause. Their reputation preceded them: fragile, ultrasensitive, even clumsy. In general, not too ingenious because they are overprotected… To everyone’s surprise, the young Spaniards gave a great lesson in courage, dedication and generosity in Valencia, in the face of the damage caused by the tragic floods of October 29. “We’ll see if now people continue calling us the crystal generation…” launched in World, With a defiant look, José Catala, a 19-year-old mechanics student, armed with a shovel and his jeans covered in mud. It was November 6 and the young man was part of the battalions of volunteers just out of adolescence who were working in the devastated town of Algemesí, one of the communities devastated by the 2-meter-high wave that overflowed the Magre River.
On the short roads that lead to the towns of the southern suburbs, walking with a firm step and equipped with brooms, groceries and wheelbarrows, or on the muddy streets of the devastated towns, helping the inhabitants to remove their furniture swollen with water, to pile them up. the remains of their life before the floods on the sidewalk, to load the backhoes and clean the houses, it was an army of young people who mobilized for the first time in Valencia, often even before firefighters and soldiers arrived at the scene.
“Our young people deserve a 10 out of 10. Without them, I don’t know how we would get through this.” said Carmina Redondo, a devastated store owner. “My nephew’s girlfriend, 17 years old, was the one who climbed through the window to open the door and help us get my husband out of the house.”explained, with a trembling voice, Emilia Saba, 60 years old. In the devastated homes and businesses, many, with tears in their eyes, welcomed these young people as heroes, with flowers in their arms, towards whom, they sometimes admit, they did not have much hope.
Rejection of prejudices
“First we cleaned our house and since then we have helped others: help is needed here.” summarized simply, a week after the floods, Constantino López, a computer science student at the University of Valencia and resident of Algemesí. Accompanied by his group of friends, all 19 years old – with whom he usually plays video games – fifa on their consoles, when they are not playing a soccer game on the municipal field transformed into a puddle of sleet: the young man had spent his morning scrubbing, sweeping, washing houses in the center of the city of people he did not know. And he admitted to being fed up with the prejudices that prevail among his generation. “It is true that the telephone takes up a lot of our time, but we are people and we know how to help ourselves when necessary” added Javier Bombas, master’s student in teaching.
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