Brighton mum fears for family affected by Spanish floods

Monica Cuenca Langa, 35, is a healthcare assistant at Sussex Eye Hospital and has lived in Brighton for seven years after moving to the UK from Spain 12 years ago.

Her brothers Sergi, 51, and Julio, 48, had their lives turned upside down after torrential rain caused disastrous flash flooding in their region.

Monica's brother Julio in front of piles of cars following the floods (Image: Submitted) Julio and his wife Soledad live in a first floor flat in Alfafar, a town close to Valencia, with their six-year-old son.

The couple ran a hair and beauty salon on the ground floor which was “completely ruined”. They have also lost the family car, which was found 1km from their home, and a garage which contained a motorbike, and many other belongings, was destroyed.

The family car was found destroyed 1km from their flat (Image: Submitted) Julio underwent a shoulder replacement three days before the flooding and has been struggling to receive medical attention such as removal of dressings. Due to the surgery, he is unable to do anything physical while his wife, Soledad, who is a breast cancer survivor still in recovery, has been compelled to shoulder the burden of work clearing up.

The region has been left in chaos with homes and vehicles destroyed and people dead or missing (Image: Submitted) Sergi’s ground floor photography and video studio in Alfafar was destroyed along with expensive equipment like cameras, lights and computers. He was also living there and so has also lost all of his personal items.

Sergi's photography studio was completely destroyed by the floods (Image: Submitted) Sergi had only moved into the flat three months ago and hadn’t yet sorted out insurance. He has been forced to move in with his parents, who live in Valencia where Monica and her brothers grew up.

Monica said: “They have lost everything they have been fighting for and their main sources of income. I couldn’t sleep for days worrying about them.

“I have just had surgery and have a little daughter so I can’t go there physically but I wanted to help, which is why I had the idea of a fundraiser.”

Monica with her brother Julio and her daughter as a newborn (Image: Submitted) So far Monica has raised £2,582 on GoFundMe to provide essentials like food, toiletries, clothes, medication, cleaning equipment and PPE (personal protective equipment) to help with clearing the highly toxic mud covering everything.

Monica said that the government was slow to react and her family were without food or water for four days. They relied on volunteers who had their way obstructed by roads blocked by piles of cars.

Monica's brothers Julio, left, and Sergi  (Image: Submitted) Her relatives are still without hot water or gas but do now have electricity.

She said: “It’s so strange – it has never happened like this in Valencia. We had one year’s worth of rain in eight hours.

“More than 200 people have died and I know someone who lost four family members and there are so many still missing. I’m grateful it’s only economic loss for my family.

“It’s going to take so much time to recover.”