Mission Statement: to assist the integration of foreign residents living in Spain
By Adam Woodward •
Updated: 06 Nov 2024 • 0:40 • 1 minute read
The tragic images of the last week of October 2024 will stay with us forever. Events of the most dramatic kind, as neighbourhoods, families, and those on their way home from work were lost in a deluge on a scale not seen in modern memory in Spain.
The world stood still in shock at first, perhaps too long for some. Then, each and every community in Spain did what they do best at the worst of times. Everyone came together. By the Friday after the tragedy, the authorities had to turn away volunteers and ask them to come back the following days. Over 15,000 people, many of whom had travelled from the furthest reaches of the country, all of them bringing something to help, showed up and queued to reach the emergency command HQ in Museu de les Ciències, Valencia.
The Costa del Sol community knows when to pull together
Local authorities, such as Mijas and Marbella, all around the country and up and down the Costa del Sol, pooled resources, sent police and fire services, and set up collection centres for donations of sheets, blankets, clothes, food, bottled water, and even school material. Ana Mata, mayor of Mijas, was at the Mijas forestation on Tuesday, November 5, helping to organise donations from local people. ‘Mijas has compassion. All food or supplies are welcome.’
Mayor Ana Mata of Mijas with volunteers collecting tonnes of aid for victims.
Credit: NR
Members of the public, social groups, bars, restaurants, and schools, even biker gangs started rallying together and collecting essential items for those effected. Their collections not only stopped at Valencia. Many on the Costa del Sol hurriedly set up emergency collections for people who had lost all, and dog refuges, cut off by flood waters.
Communities were not told what to do; they just knew. It was second nature for us in Spain. That’s why we choose to live in Spain.
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Passionate about music, food and the arts. After being completely immersed in the Spanish way of life for 25 years, I now share my knowhow and experience with you.
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