Andrea, the Young Woman Who Lost Her Mother: "We Must Honour Those Who Left, But Also Care for Those Who Remain Here"

Andrea Ferrari, daughter of Eva Canut who passed away in Riba-roja, Virginia Ortiz, cousin of Juan Alejandro who lost his life in Letur, and Naiara Chuliá, partner of Slim Regaieg, an employee from another company in Riba-roja, were the family members who spoke at the state funeral in memory of the victims.

The first to speak was Andrea, who emphasised the importance of remembering the deceased but also those who mourn them: "those of us who remain here, walking with scars on our souls but with a determined gaze".

The young woman, after expressing her condolences to those present, recalled that a year ago the water swept away "streets, houses, and lives", but also left a wave of solidarity "and love for our land". "I cannot stop thanking all the people who, in those hard days, came out to help and gave everything," she highlighted. "To the young people who offered their hand, to the neighbours who opened their homes, to the emergency services, to the Security Forces, to the health and rescue teams, and to the thousands and thousands of volunteers who came from all over Spain and showed that, thanks to their brotherhood, Valencia could rise from the mud," she added. "Thank you for reminding the world that amidst chaos, humanity still exists," she concluded.

She also spoke of her mother, Eva María Canut, a 54-year-old administrative worker who died when returning from work in the La Reva industrial estate as the water swept away the car she was travelling in with a colleague. "Her joy enveloped you without you realising, and that strength she radiated is what drives me to keep living and to find reasons to smile, even when life is heavy," she noted.

Furthermore, she had words for the victims' associations - "I want to sincerely thank their work of support, channelling our pain and trying to turn it into justice" - and insisted on the importance of remembrance and support for the families.

"A year later, calm has still not arrived. We know it does not come on its own, but is built with effort, hope, and unity. And let us not forget: we must honour the memory of those who left, but also care for those of us who are here. Because as long as memory exists, there will never be oblivion, and because for us right now, the most important thing is that truth, respect, and humanity prevail," she concluded.

The next to speak was Naiara Chuliá, the wife of Slim Regaieg. The man of Tunisian origin died on his way home from work in Ribarroja del Turia, on his way to his home in Bétera. He left behind a wife and two young children.

His wife remembers him as "a tireless fighter". He died on his way home after work. Naiara recalls his life since his arrival in Spain 25 years ago. They met in Mallorca and over time their two children arrived. "Today they are my salvation," the widow states.

The week before Slim's death, while they were painting their house, Naiara thought: "I am so happy it scares me," but she did not say it. That Saturday they celebrated the birthday of the wife and mother of the two children. "I still have a bit of frozen meringue you made, I can't bring myself to eat it or throw it away," she says sadly. "When everything was going well, we were stabilising, with wonderful children and many dreams to fulfil... One day you leave home and don't return," Chuliá says.

"If I had known that the conversation on the afternoon of the 29th was the last, I would have said so many things..." Naiara spent the afternoon praying to the universe that Slim would be home when she arrived there with the children, but it was not so. "The house was cold, I had a premonition," she explains.

Regaieg's loved ones mobilised to find him, and so they did. "That day my world turned upside down," the Tunisian's wife states. It was accompanied by the hardest moment of her life: telling the children that their father would not return.

"All of Tunisia mourns you," Naiara assures. But she has had to go through the mourning herself, in a spiral of paperwork, school, and life: "You enter a cycle because you have two young children and you have the obligation to carry on. You realise you can't do it all and you have to stop, delegate, take care of yourself to be able to care for others. Sadness overwhelms me when I see that life goes on, even though you're not here."

"I tell my story, but here, in this room, there are 237 stories, with names and surnames, with shattered families and broken dreams," she adds, distressed. "I hope we find the reason to move forward. In my case, it's my children. They've lost their father, they can't lose their mother too," she resolves. "It's hard to educate away from pain, anger, and sadness when you feel that way," she explains. But she relies on the memory: "I don't raise my children alone, I do it with you, thinking about how you would do it. I want my children to fulfil their dreams, but happily along the way. We've already learned that the final goal may never come."

Naiara fights to move forward because it's what her husband would have wanted: "I don't want to feel bad when I laugh and I don't want to feel guilty for what happened to you. No one has the right to judge us for it, they don't walk in our shoes." Slim's wife wants to convey an image of her partner as a wonderful confidant and father, and therefore, the great loss it entailed.

Virginia Ortiz was the last of the relatives to pay tribute to her loved one. She spoke to remember her cousin, the youngest deceased in Letur. The young man died on the slope connecting the old town of the municipality with the upper area of the village. He was travelling in a municipal van with his colleague Manuel. They were heading to safety after receiving the warning that the stream had overflowed at the start of the channel due to the rains in the Sierra del Segura. The torrent of water surprised them halfway through the journey. The first car managed to avoid the current and save itself. Juan and Manuel were not so lucky.

Ortiz wrote a text the day they found her cousin's body: "We have gone up and down that street millions of times, we have wandered aimlessly just as many, and the beautiful landscape is etched in my memory, but I am unable to enjoy its memory, as if it were accompanied by a mephitic smell, because there was nothing beautiful in what led me to contemplate it." Her speech at the funeral was also accompanied by a call for accountability: "Floods are the natural phenomenon that causes the most deaths in Spain. But it was not this phenomenon that caused the catastrophe we have suffered; it is the one who neglects their duty, knowing that their omission can lead to the loss of human lives, who commits the primary act that results in their deaths."