Paco Roca's sculpture for La Torre is now in Alcantarilla (Murcia) for bronze casting. The Valencia City Council plans to install it in the square of the Church of Our Lady of Grace before the second anniversary of the flood.
The monument to the volunteer responders of the 2024 flood is progressing towards installation. The piece, designed by artist Paco Roca, has already left the workshop in Riba-roja de Túria and is now in Alcantarilla (Murcia), where it will be cast in bronze. The aim is to have it placed before October 29, marking two years since the disaster.
The sculpture will be located in the square of the Church of Our Lady of Grace, in the Valencian district of La Torre, which became a coordination centre for volunteers after the flood. The work recreates the mural that Roca himself painted on the facade of La Rambleta: a young volunteer with clothes splattered with mud, moving forward while holding a basin and a broom.
The Valencia City Council awarded the contract to the artist on July 1 for an amount of €50,600 (including VAT) with a three-month execution period. The proposal came from the participatory budgets “VLC Participa” (2025/2026) and will stand at a height of 2.20 metres.
Roca explained that he chose this illustration as a tribute to the victims and the solidarity movement: “If there was anything positive about that disaster, it was undoubtedly the spontaneous solidarity movement that helped those affected during one of the worst moments in the history of the Comunitat Valenciana. I wanted that citizen movement not to be forgotten, so I created that illustration.”
The drawing depicted a young girl, one of the thousands of volunteers who selflessly went to help those who suffered firsthand from the disaster. This wave of solidarity, which quickly gathered people from all over the country and some from abroad, was crucial to begin recovering the affected areas,” added the cartoonist.
Artists Ángel de Fabero and José Ramón Puchades, founders of the sculpture studio 5PUNTO1, are responsible for translating Roca's design into bronze. With over 25 years of joint experience, they have directed the life-size modelling and are now overseeing the casting process in the Murcian town.
The figure of the volunteer has become a symbol of solidarity and resilience since it gained popularity on social media and featured in posters and murals after the flood. With this monument, Valencia aims to cement that collective gesture in the public space of one of the most affected areas.
The expectation is that the sculpture will be installed before October 29, the date when the events for the second anniversary will take place. Meanwhile, the residents of La Torre and the rest of the city will be able to see the final result in the church square, a place that is already part of the memory of the tragedy.
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