Save Valencia's Flood-Damaged Family Photographs

Help us save precious, irreplaceable family memories damaged by severe flooding in Valencia, Spain.

This past October, over 12 inches of rain fell in one day in the province of Valencia, creating devastating floods throughout the region. Tragically, many lives were lost. The floods displaced thousands of people, as well as filling the streets with debris. Through thick layers of mud, trash, cars, and furniture, communities are finding thousands of water-damaged family photos among the wreckage. These cherished photographs are irreplaceable. Families deserve the chance to have these photographs, full of memories, milestones, and history, returned to them safely.

Hours after the floods, photograph conservator Rosina Herrera collaborated with the University of Valencia to create an initiative called Salvem Les Fotos (Save the Photos), responding to the community's plea to save their photographs. For over three months, volunteers from the project have been assessing, handling, washing, and drying photographs. This service is free-of-charge to victims, but relies on outside donations to keep the project alive.

Your donations will conserve family photographs and bring some semblance of hope and peace to the community during this period of devastation. Your contribution will:

If you would like to read more about the project, Salvem Les Fotos, you can do so here:

English: Salvem Les Fotos

Spanish: Salvem Les Fotos

This project has been supported by the following:

Universitat de Valencia (UV), Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), Universitat Jaume I de Castelló, Universitat d'Alacant and Universitat Miguel Hernández d'Elx, the Etno (Museu Valencià d'Etnologia] and the Spanish Group of the IIC (GEIIC)

Image of cars in the street from https://elpais.com/espana/2024-10-29/la-dana-en-espana-en-directo-ultimas-noticias-del-temporal-y-las-inundaciones.html

The rest of the images taken by Jose Ferrero.