«An hour and a half later, already after nine at night, the waters, impetuously, dragging ahead an immense barrier of weeds, branches, trees and field implements, collided with the immutable ashlar of the pilasters of the Roman bridge of ‘ Los Gallegos’, forging, right there, the first containment barrier for waters that, overflowing on one side and the other (…) were to surprise the unwary and trusting in their dreams neighbors…” This could perfectly be the story of what happened in so many towns in Valencia and, however, it refers to September 11, 1891. That day, the Amarguillo overflowed and 359 of the “eight” died in Consuegra. a thousand and some souls” of the people. 133 years have passed since the biggest natural disaster in the province of Toledo and it is scary how current it sounds. So similar that, if you review the newspaper archive, history repeats itself almost point by point: a population with its guard down, because it didn’t rain once either. barbarity, which was destroyed; some neighbors who lived on the banks of the river, where they were easy prey and should never have been built; a trail of corpses that emerged dozens of kilometers from the place where they were lost; and, best of all, an impressive wave of solidarity from the rest of Spain with their compatriots. At the beginning of September 1891, Consuegra was a happy town. The end of summer also meant the end of harvesting tasks in the fields and the neighbors said that the harvest had been good that year. Added to this was the celebrations in honor of the Holy Christ of the True Cross. Two days before Friday, September 11, “black storm clouds had gathered over the mountains and foothills of the Montes de Toledo; sporadic heavy downpours, during those two days, dumped throughout the western area, and the river, although timidly, came providing a flow that in no way alarmed the neighbors,” says Francisco Domínguez Tendero in his book ‘Memoria-Centenario’ .Current panoramic photograph of Consuegra, taken from the same place Julio García OrtízAt around eight in the morning on the damned 11th, a neighbor notified the Civil Guard of the possible overflow of the Amarguillo. “Meanwhile, the storm manifested itself with a roar and thunder and lightning covered the space completely, in all the surroundings of Consuegra, followed by a discharge of water.” Another citizen went to the mayor, Luis Cantador y Rey, to tell him “how the waters had exceeded the levels of some houses and flooded their ground floor rooms.” The mayor then issued a statement in which he begged those who lived in the near the river to move to the higher areas of the town, but the majority did not pay attention. That’s the truth. That in the early hours of the afternoon the storm subsided and the rain stopped did not contribute to continuing with the precautions. So “with the night, tragedy came” when the ancient Roman dam known as ‘Urda Bridge’ burst, in which “the waters that had been torrentially discharged throughout the day into the Amarguillo River basin” had been accumulating. Telegram asking for helpManuel Curros Enríquez, who signed with the pseudonym Sebastián Zurita and had been sent to Consuegra by the newspaper ‘El País’ [no el de ahora]explained what a victim told him: «Little by little, the sinister music of thunder, wind and water was numbing my senses and I was beginning to fall asleep, when a resounding and prolonged creak of collapsing walls, of beams that break into splinters and furniture that jump into fragments, I woke up terrified and half suffocated by the dust. «The noise that I had just heard was soon joined by cries of anguish, voices of help! and desperate accents imploring divine favor. I wanted to jump out of bed; but at that moment, the partition of my room collapsed on me, the floor sinking under my feet and pushed as if on an inclined plane, I felt myself descending violently…”, he added. On Saturday the 12th, at seven in the morning, the mayor called the plenary session and made a first assessment of the catastrophe. He then sent a telegram to San Sebastián in which he informed the queen regent María Cristina of what had happened and asked urgent help from Francisco Silvela, Minister of the Interior: «Victims of the flood about 1,500 [por suerte, la cifra real se redujo a 359]. All the houses in the town, except very few, are ruined [en la zona del río sólo se mantuvo en pie la iglesia de San Juan Bautista]. The panic is indescribable. Large-scale resources are immediately needed; To lift the rubble, troops and a Company of Engineers are needed to demolish and shore up the houses that require it; “Many stretchers and utensils of clothing and food are needed, since the flood has left the town ruined forever.” The chronicle of Gabriel Briones in ‘La Época’, the first journalist who attended, is impressive: «When we arrived at what was once a town, an expression of horror was reflected on everyone’s countenance. Where was the population? Was it formed, perhaps, by the hundred or so houses that could be seen standing? The spectacle could not be more horrible. A huge pile of rubble spread out before us… We got out of the cars and a ragged crowd came out to greet us. The terror that possessed their spirits was portrayed in the eyes of the inhabitants; In their bodies, lightly wrapped in some clothes covered in mud, the misery and deep suffering of the unfortunate inhabitants of what was Consuegra were reflected. All those beings shed abundant tears. “The water now circulates through a small channel created for this purpose. Julio García OrtízThere were bodies that appeared in Madridejos, Camuñas, Villafranca de los Caballeros or even in the area of Villarrubia de los Ojos, where the Cigüela river has already absorbed Amarguillo and, in any case, very far from Consuegra. Miracles also multiplied amid so much fatality. Like, for example, that of the Moraleda Tendero brothers, known as ‘the Carmonas’. A large family that lived from the garden and in which the gallantry of the mother, named Segunda, saved the lives of her seven children. During the afternoon of the 11th, seeing the river rising, he made the decision to abandon his house and take refuge in another. ‘The Carmonas’ survived the disaster and fate rewarded them by giving them another life. Or the same one, but longer, since they all reached the age of 90. They adopted orphans. From all corners of Spain they lent a hand to rebuild the town; The press sector, in particular, was involved. ‘El Imparcial’, the most influential newspaper, launched “the most beautiful campaign in its history”, in the words of its director, José Ortega y Munilla [padre del filósofo José Ortega y Gasset]. He promoted a new neighborhood, named after the newspaper, with more than 90 homes and which still exists. In addition, journalists like Ortega y Munilla himself or Santiago Rusiñol, from ‘La Vanguardia’, adopted several orphaned children. “The houses were practically in the riverbed, and people died drowned or crushed by the collapse,” explains Julio García Ortíz, a resident of Consuegra and a collaborator with ABC for decades. After the tragedy, the channels were widened through wide walks on the banks of the river. Of course, building was no longer allowed in that area. Walls were also built, some made of stone and others made of earth, called malecones, so that water would not invade homes in the event of new floods, although barely a stretch of stone remains of those barriers. After the tragedy, the channels were widened and walls were built Julio García Ortíz“Until the 60s of the last century”, the Amarguillo ran through Consuegra “seven or eight months a year”, according to Julio García Ortíz. Today, with the water circulating through a small channel created for this purpose, the periods in which it is dry are longer. Recently, on June 5, 2023, Storm Oscar left about 80 liters per square meter in 35 minutes, but the river has not overflowed again. And every September 11, the balconies of the town hall display black crepes in memory of that unfortunate end of the summer of 1891.
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