Xu Xin tours the skeleton of what was once the largest bazaar in Paiporta. This 60-year-old woman of Chinese origin leads the cleaning of her business along with Yoli and Valia, two Venezuelan citizens who are trying to rescue the inventory that can still be sold. “We’ve been like this for 7 days,” says Xu Xin’s daughter, who adds in perfect Spanish that what the water has not taken away ended up looted. Xu Xin arrived in Paiporta 28 years ago with her husband Zang Su. Like this family, hundreds of migrants residing in the towns affected by the damage are working to recover normality after the catastrophe. EL PAÍS has spoken with some of them in Paiporta, Alfafar, Benetúser and Algemesí, where the migrant population ranges between 5% and 12%, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics.
In Paiporta (26,500 residents), the municipality most affected by dana, the migrant community has become a visible part of the town’s daily life. This is exemplified by Adia Nomoko, a 37-year-old Malian woman who, dodging mud puddles, returns to her apartment with a bag full of cleaning products. When , Adia tried to drive her car to a high area, a gamble that almost cost her her life. The flood reached her vehicle. She had to cling to the bars of a doorway to avoid being swept away by the current. “There was a moment when I had no strength left and I thought: ‘Let it be what God wants,’” he says. The woman was saved because the neighbors managed to unblock the door of the building. What worried him most at all times was that his two children would come to his rescue and be swept away by the current. “Luckily they had not left home. They remembered that I told them that no matter what happened, not to go down to the street,” she says with relief.
Now hundreds of food distribution stands have been built on their street and hundreds of volunteers are still parading trying to clear the last mudflats. This is the new normal for Tatiana Padilla, who arrived in the municipality from Ecuador six years ago to study a master’s degree at the University of Valencia. Less than a month ago she celebrated her wedding in Paiporta because she really likes the town. “We especially liked going for a walk in the ravine, where everything was normally green and you could go with your pets,” says Padilla, who has gone out to collect food for the day’s meal.
Not everyone will be able to fulfill their desire to stay. This is the case of Valia Sicilia, whose home has been reported as uninhabitable after suffering significant damage to the structure. “I am very sad to leave Paiporta, because we have made many friends here.” This 39-year-old Venezuelan citizen arrived four years ago to live with her partner in the town. “We studied ESO for adults in this town and decided to stay.”
The only job Valia has had since arriving in Spain has been at Xu Xin’s bazaar. The night of the overflow she was behind the cash register machine. When the water began to flood everything, they went up to a warehouse located on the second floor. The next day the looting began. “People took goods in front of us,” says Xu Xin’s daughter. While taking a break, in which he opens a can of Chinese chickpeas, he explains that the aid deployed by the Government will not be enough to relaunch the business. “6,000 euros are nothing for a business that has tons of merchandise,” he says.
“People have thrown away hundreds of things that could be repaired”
Carlos Melgar considers himself a handyman. This 41-year-old Honduran citizen has experience repairing cars, appliances and vehicles. Thanks to his skill he has been able to get a variety of jobs in Spain that have helped him get ahead in the 14 years he has been in the country. This Saturday he finished repairing the refrigerator that everyone he knew had given up as lost. “People have thrown away hundreds of things that could be repaired,” he shares enthusiastically.
Carlos defines his life as a long adventure. His last stop was in Alfafar (21,879 inhabitants), a town where he arrived six years ago attracted by the price of housing, which is lower than that of the city of Valencia. Their home is at ground level, so where there used to be a living room and a small kitchen, now there is only a large room where much of the mud has already disappeared. This man seems to be one step ahead of the people. He has already started laying a layer of shiny parquet. However, psychologically he says that he has not recovered: “People see me smile, but I, on the other hand, don’t feel like going back to work while the town is still destroyed.”
Daniel Zambrano, a Venezuelan citizen who on the night of the Poyo overflow, walked across the Valencian capital, about seven kilometers, to find his family in Benetúser (15,879 inhabitants) has arrived to help clean Carlos Melgar’s house. This thirty-year-old left Ecuador four years ago due to the security crisis that is devastating the Latin American country and arrived with his wife and children in the Valencian town. On the night of the dana, Daniel was only able to get to the Xátiva station. From there he “jogged” to the area affected by the overflow. “When a police officer got lost, I crossed a pedestrian crossing and started walking in water up to my waist until I could get to my house,” he summarizes as he walks through the town with his two children. Tomorrow is uncertain for Daniel, who says he is going to leave his job in Sagunto, located 42 kilometers from Benetúser, because he does not want to have to travel for an hour and a half every day.
Forgotten in Algemesí
“We received the alert when the water was already up to our knees,” is the first complaint of Cecilia Arias, a 58-year-old Ecuadorian who lives in Algemesí (27,438 inhabitants), one of the towns that received the first blow from the overflow. Their discomfort lies precisely in the lack of information that the population has had before and after the flood.
“We would have liked someone to tell us how to proceed so we could do something for the neighbors. This municipality is characterized because many older people live here,” explains Arias, who cannot help crying with her story. “We had to wait almost seven days for the heavy machinery to arrive. It seems that we have been totally forgotten,” says Arias.
