Flooded cemeteries, ravaged funeral homes, hearses swept away… As it comes to burying the dozens of deaths due to the floods which devastated Spain, difficulties are piling up for funeral services, more than a week after the disaster.
The torrential rains which fell on the south-east of the country, mainly in the Valencia region, have caused at least 219 victims and more than 80 bodies have already been handed over to families, according to the judicial authorities.
But many cemeteries, like that of Massanassa, in the suburbs of Valencia, are still covered in mud and debris and unable to properly accommodate the deceased. Proof of the extent of the flooding: the water managed to push the large 700 kilo iron gates marking the entrance to this cemetery dating from 1889 from their hinges. A challenge for the employees, who must restore the site.
Since October 29, seven residents have died in the town, three from natural causes and four from flooding. But none could be buried. And time is running out, the condition of the bodies of victims of bad weather is not good.
It is currently possible to carry out cremations or burials in the city of Valencia, spared from the floods. But in Spain, people generally want to bury their loved ones in vaults or in family cremation niches.
“My parents must be together,” said Juan Monrabal, a resident of Catarroja, to the local daily “Las Provincias”. It was suggested that he bury his mother, who died in the floods, in another cemetery and then move her next to his father. But the legislation does not allow this to be done before 10 years, and he, who is 54, fears he will die before then.
In its Catarroja establishment, the Lápidas Casañ funeral home is also facing a complicated situation. “Work has stopped, we are cleaning,” explains Arturo Casañ, 59, son of the founder. In recent days he received an order for tombstones, but so far he has not been able to make it. “I think it will be two, three or four weeks before things get better. First there are the houses, then the cemeteries,” he explains.
