The flood that devastated the province of Valencia more than two months ago, leaving dire consequences for all the affected municipalities, has also revealed a surprise under the pavements of several houses in the town of Paiporta: the appearance of shelters from the Spanish Civil War that remained hidden. Given this discovery, specialists advise creating a catalog and emphasize the convenience of carrying out structural evaluations, in order to guarantee safety, and analyze, on the other hand, the cultural and historical aspect.
After the ravine that impacted a large part of the province of Valencia, some houses in the old town of Paiporta, located At ‘ground zero’ of the tragedy, residents have found wells and shelters built during the Civil War and that could connect the Ciutat Vella of the municipality via an underground route.
This is the case of the central streets Dr. Cajal and Sant Roc. “The dana lifted the ground upwards when everything happened,” some neighbors tell Europa Press Television, who say that in some cases “they knew the shelters were there.” but they had them “covered.”
Now, when it is discovered, “architects have come to analyze” these vestiges, say the inhabitants, who urge the City Council to contact them as soon as possible and to act quickly.
For his part, the director of the University Institute of Heritage Restoration of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), Francisco Juan, points out that, although for most it has been a surprise, “reading and investigating more, it seems that there was news in Paiporta, especially from the older generations, from the existence of these galleries, from the time of war, even from having used them in childhood.
The expert draws attention to two derivatives of the discovery. First of all, “the purely structural”. “Evidently, we must evaluate what effect this may have on the structures. The buildings are located on the ground and, in some cases, it would be necessary to study whether it could be generating some type of effect, and the fact that there has been a flood and flooded with water, may have affected the structure”. Therefore, he stressed, “the first study, the safety study, is the most imminent study.”
“They are part of a memory”
In addition, there is a cultural component, since, today, all the assets linked to the Civil War “are being valued because there is an interest, they are part of a memory, of a historical episode of the country.”
And he added, in statements to Europa Press TV, that, given that Knowledge about these shelters is “vague and there are few studies,” It would be a good idea to prepare an inventory, that is, “a record of all of them, see what condition they are in, what size they are and if there are any that are easily accessible so that they can be museums or put into value.”
The expert warns that the work is not quick as there are a significant number of properties affected and understands that the neighbors are impatient for the issue to be resolved as soon as possible. In that sense, he recalled the offer of institutions and entities, such as the universities themselves, to collaborate to the extent of their possibilities.
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