Simon Wade
THE PEOPLE of San Fulgencio came together to acknowledge and thank the ‘fantastic and unselfish’ emergency services and volunteers that helped throughout September’s floods that devastated so much of the Vega Baja region
From the Guardia Civil to regional fire brigades, and from charity shops to radio stations, the mayor of San Fulgencio, José Sempere Ballester, expressed his gratitude to them all.
The commemorations were carefully planned on Friday 6, a bank holiday, so that many more could attend.
The morning started with the unveiling and blessing of a plaque, before a parade through the town ended up at the local sports centre, where hundreds attended the official ceremony.
In attendance were representatives of all emergency services, retailers that helped with provisions, plucky volunteers that helped rescue people trapped by the floods and everyone else recognised for helping with their time.
One of those was BIG FM, the community radio station based in Ciudad Quesada, who kept listeners up to date with road closures, where certain provisions were needed and pending weather forecasts throughout the weekend of the flooding.
Their manager, Richie Sparks, told the Olive Press, “It was only right that we got involved and acted as a central dropping-off point for emergency provisions.”
“Literally hundreds of people came from near and far to donate clothing, furniture and their time into helping out – it was very humbling.”
“I was just glad we were there – we’re a community station, putting the community first.”
Darren Parmenter is a councillor at San Fulgencio Town Hall, and proudly said, “It was wonderful and emotional day honouring all those that helped and collaborated – many beyond the call of duty – during those dark days of September.”
“It made you realise the scale of the operation and the numbers of people involved, both civilian, police, and military,” he continued/
“Speaking personally, feeling proud doesn’t even adequately describe how it felt to be part of today’s proceedings,” he confessed.
The afternoon finished off with a gigantic paella and free bar for those in attendance.
