The. After decades in which everything has happened, such as the terrible fire in the Campanar building last February, with minutes of play that became long and minutes that became short, the unimaginable arrived: a catastrophe that has devastated half province and that has left more than 200 dead, tons of mud and towns razed and ruined. All of Valencia has been mourning the catastrophe for days and this Tuesday the sadness condensed in the old pavilion during a minute of silence that pierced the hearts of the fans.
At the head of everyone, , who has also lost close friends, such as Miguel Bordeos, club advisor, and Vicente Tarancón, president of Luanvi, the sports brand that dresses the team. The patron stood up during the minute of silence next to his wife, Hortensia Herrero, two of his daughters and his brother Fernando, president of Villarreal soccer team. The squad, all wearing black crepes, with their gaze sunk into the hardwood, returned home after postponing three games: one in the Eurocup – the one against Lithuanian Lietakabelis – and two in the Endesa League.
This is the first game of a professional team in Valencia after the damage that has changed the Valencians forever. The solemn moment went through every corner of the Fuente de San Luis pavilion a few months after its symbolic ‘closure’ so that the ‘taronja’ team can move, in 2025, to the enormous and lavish Roig Arena, almost standing and whose skin can be seen a few meters away.
It wasn’t just another game. Not at all. There was a Eurocup clash at stake, a lead to defend, a six-game unbeaten streak to stretch, but his mind was elsewhere. Maybe in Paiporta, Picanya, Chiva or who knows where. La Fonteta couldn’t be a party this time. How could it be if when a fan arrived at his seat he found a piece of cardboard with the ‘senyera’ and a black crepe.
This time the people also played a leading role, especially young people, thousands of young people, who have dedicated themselves for two weeks with their youthful energy to try to raise again all the towns swallowed by the flood. ”Gràcies a tots’ (thank you all) and ‘Voluntaris herois (volunteers heroes) were displayed on a couple of banners on a corner, where the Peña Nacho Rodilla has been located for years.
Valencia is one of the entities that has committed the most to dana. In the neighboring area they have gone from citizens rescued in the hours after the tsunami to soldiers who came to help in the municipalities damaged by the water. Pedro Martínez’s team did everything they could to bring joy to all their people and achieved victory against Cedevita Olimpia Ljubljana (109-80). Seven out of seven.
Now, when the time has come to resume the competitive routine, the club, very sensitive to what happened, proposes 15 solidarity actions in the first 15 games, between the men’s and women’s, after the tragedy. The first has been to give visibility to the initiative of José Simeón, the Silla point guard who played for the team between 2002 and 2011. Now, at 33 years old, this young man is a firefighter and intends to buy material, such as motor pumps and pressure washers, to help clean and try to restore normality in all the mud-smeared towns.
The fans expressed their emotion in all the actions that were carried out during the Eurocup match to remember these impossible-to-forget days. Although the orange gaps that could be seen in the stands were also sad. Many residents of all these towns are immersed in their survival, in cleaning their houses, in getting food, in replenishing their businesses. Valencia has tried to help them by assuming 50% of the cost of the pass for subscribers from the affected towns, but right now, in addition, it is not easy to travel on a very damaged road network. Surely there are more favorable days, in the future, to return to Fonteta or, who knows, to do so now at Roig Arena. New pavilion, new life.
