Solidarity dyed the earthy brown of the mud green with hope. In the midst of the chaos, the arrival of the Three Wise Men turned Paiporta and the rest of the towns affected by the devastating dana of October 29 into the epicenter of magic and, at the same time, made fathers, mothers, uncles and grandparents forget of mud-stained boots, of mountains of piled-up cars, of closed businesses and of the lack of help from public administrations. Even if it was only for a couple of hours and all thanks to the cascade of smiles and the naive looks of thousands of boys and girls. “How much joy was needed,” was heard among the crowd in the streets of ground zero of the worst tragedy experienced in the province of Valencia.
The Three Kings parade in Paiporta started at six in the afternoon against the clock. Throughout the morning, members of the Military Emergency Unit rushed to clean the actual route, just over two kilometers long, while singing songs to the joy of a people who already know them all from the time they have been here. More than two months have passed since a tsunami of mud devastated everything and in the ruined area the “monotheme” still prevails without discussion. But this Sunday the situation was very different, the landscape did not look as black as it did weeks ago and the light of the little ones defeated, at least for one miserable day, the enormous amount of work that remains to be done.
A woman hugs one of the UME troops
In addition to the traditional songs to their majesties the Kings of the East, there was thunderous applause for the firefighters, police and soldiers who distributed gifts from their official vehicles. They took photos with the little ones and received the affection of a population dedicated to the State security forces and bodies. Already in the morning, soldiers and firefighters from all over Spain had distributed gifts in Catarroja. “They have saved us,” was heard among the crowds of attendees. One of the most exciting moments of the afternoon was the arrival of the royal delegation to the municipal auditorium. Gaspar could not bear everything he felt and burst into tears while greeting non-stop.
At the entrance to the town, a supermarket is preparing to reopen this eve of Three Kings Day. Military trucks still pass by the bridge from which you can see the now well-known Poyo ravine while piles of garbage, dirt and mud remain piled up along its rambla. In the municipal auditorium, where the parade has ended, a mural of wishes from all over Spain covers its restored walls: “I wish that you can be well and that everything passes quickly” or “that normality returns, please.” That mantra is the one that has been repeated in every nook and cranny of Paiporta minutes before the long-awaited arrival of Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar, each on their majestic floats from which they have thrown thousands of gifts (balls, candies, cases…) to the boys and girls who looked at them with a joy inappropriate for the place in recent times. Continuous contrasts in every corner, metaphor and oxymoron of a place destroyed and, at the same time, regenerated by the strength and will of its own people.
King Baltasar, during the ride
«It’s what the people needed. May someone bring joy even for a day. There’s a lot left to do, but we’ll get through it, for sure,” cries Sara, a neighbor who that fateful night couldn’t get home from Valencia, where she works. “I stayed at the entrance, where the Civil Guard barracks is and I had to turn around,” she remembers, while her husband and children returned to the family home in panic and unable to contact her due to the lack of coverage. “I think it’s super cool that the Kings are coming after what’s happened,” celebrates her little daughter, with whom she shares a name, and who has asked their majesties, among other things, for some slippers, a board game for everyone. the family and a craft set.
“There is still a lot to do, but we will get through”
The thoughts of Trini, another resident of the town located in the Horta Sud region, are similar, but somewhat more belligerent regarding the lack of resources that they have been suffering since the end of last October. «The children’s looks had lost their enthusiasm but today they have recovered it. We have asked the Kings for more help because the shine has to return to the people. We know that there is a long way to go, very few businesses have opened but we hope that little by little it can be solved, but with the help of the government obviously, which has not given it and has done it very badly,” he criticizes.
«The eyes of the children had lost their enthusiasm, but today they have recovered it»
However, not for everyone there are reasons to celebrate or arguments to pause the pain or anger for what happened and, above all, for the people who are gone. David, with his eyes lost towards the floats, remembers his twin brother, who died on October 29 while trying to get the car out of the garage. «It is a beautiful day for children because they are not aware of what has happened, for the rest, especially for those of us who have lost relatives, it is not a day to celebrate, but rather they are sad dates. There is still a long way to go for the people to rise up and those of us who have lost people will find it difficult to turn the page at this time,” he laments.
Regarding the government response, he asserts that aid “is arriving in dribs and drabs.” Her sister-in-law, who has lost her husband and also her house, has only managed to receive last week the 6,000 euros that the Generalitat Valenciana announced “and nothing more.” «If it were not for the volunteers, the NGOs and the people who come to help free of charge and selflessly, it would cost us even more. “There are people who are living without walls, without furniture and with the floor raised two months later,” he says, visibly indignant.
For the second day
But this Sunday, boys and girls from Paiporta received the Three Wise Men for the second consecutive day, especially dedicated to the areas affected by the floods. On Saturday, the royal delegation carried out a solidarity parade simultaneously in eight municipalities of l’Horta Sud, organized by the ‘La Cantina’ Volunteer Center and the Gomaespuma Foundation, and which was joined by around twenty entities such as unions. and social organizations such as the Together for Life Foundation or the Movement for Peace.
Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar visited, in addition to Paiporta, other towns hit by the dana such as Sedaví, Benetúser, Picaña, Massanassa, Alfafar, Catarroja and Albal, where they spread enthusiasm while helping the productive fabric and local commerce. The spokesperson for the organizing entities, Joanen Cunyat, pointed out that “it is a year of extra excitement for all the Valencian boys and girls, who deserve it, because something costly and painful has happened and now it’s time to have fun, think about the future.” and that this also serves to continue doing what they have been doing until now: helping their fathers and their mothers and their families.
Saturday’s parade distributed more than 4,000 gifts and more than 4,000 bags of sweets among the eight towns of l’Horta Sud, with the deployment of 150 volunteers and 40 vehicles, as well as chocolate and cake made in the ovens of these towns. “We have the idea of helping to raise the blinds, invest in the productive fabric and so that the businesses in the towns can raise the blinds and move forward,” Cunyat stressed. In addition to the distribution of toys and candy, all kinds of cultural performances took place during the parade, such as choirs, circus performances, carols, mentalists and magicians, among other activities.
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