VALENCIA will hold a state memorial service this Wednesday commemorate the victims of last year’s October 29 flood disaster.
Besides the 229 people that lost their lives in the Valencian Community, the service will also pay tribute to seven people that died in Castilla-La Mancha and the single victim in Andalucia.
The Science Museum, in the City of Arts and Sciences of Valencia, will host the service which will start at 6pm.
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Around 800 people will attend and there will be addresses from the relatives of three victims on behalf of all those who died in addition to King Felipe VI on behalf of the country.
Invitations have been sent to four relatives per family.
King Felipe and Queen Letitia along with Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, will greet family members in an adjacent area before the service.
The ceremony will be conducted by the Valencian journalist Lara Siscar.
Other people in attendance will be nearly all of the national government ministers, the Valencian government executive led by president Carlos Mazon, plus the presidents of the Congress, the Senate, the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court
The list also includes former Prime Ministers, Jose María Aznar and Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero; most of the regional presidents; the leader of the Partido Popular opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijoo; and the spokespeople of the parliamentary groups of Congress, with the exception of Vox which has declined.
The mayors of the 78 municipalities affected by the floods have also been invited.
The names of every victim will be read out at the secular service and a minute’s silence will also be observed.
Some of them along with victim associations have appealed to Valencian president, Carlos Mazon, not to attend because they believe it would be ‘very painful’ to see somebody who they view as being responsible for their deaths.
They’ve also asked for him to not have any contact with them before or after the service.
The Valencian Community has decreed Wednesday as a day of official mourning with flags flying at half-mast on all official buildings.
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