Week in News: Train Crash and Farmer Protests

Bon dia. A reminder that Thursday, January 22, is a public holiday in Valencia for the Festival of San Vicente Mártir, the city’s patron saint. Stores, markets, and schools will be closed.

If this holiday caught you by surprise, you’re not alone: Understanding which festival days are public holidays can be a little tricky in Valencia.

Developing Story

Dozens of passengers were killed after a high-speed Iryo train derailed near Ademuz and collided head-on with another train on a parallel track, according to El País. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is expected to visit the site on Monday as investigators work to determine the cause of the crash. All high-speed rail service between Madrid and Andalusia has been suspended.

Politics & Newsmakers

Former Valencia mayor Ricard Pérez Casado passed away last week. One of the key architects of the city’s modern urban planning and the founder of Valencia’s Socialist Party, he was also among the city’s first democratically elected mayors. As Valencia Plaza explains, during his administration from 1979 to 1989, the Turia riverbed was transformed into the park that defines Valencia today. His planning vision continues to shape the city. In recognition of his legacy, writes ABC, Valencia’s local parliament has agreed to name a street after him.

Julio Iglesias, perhaps Spain’s most famous and commercially successful singer, has been accused in a Spanish court of sexual exploitation and human trafficking by two former employees—allegations he strongly denies. El País reports on the lavish yet increasingly reclusive lifestyle of the 82-year-old singer in the Caribbean. It remains unclear what jurisdiction Spanish courts would have in the case.

Economics & Business

The Mercosur trade agreement has angered many farming communities in the Valencia region. Valencia Plaza reports that farmers are preparing a large protest in Valencia on January 29. El País has more on the broader pressure facing the EU to sign the agreement amid current U.S. trade policies.

The popular beach town of Benidorm will have to pay more than €350 million in urban-planning fines—nearly double its annual budget—reports El País.

City & Community

The Valencia Sud metro station in Pobles del Sud has finally reopened, according to Valencia Extra. The station was badly damaged during the October 2024 floods and was the last metro stop to be fully restored.

Dozens of abandoned news kiosks will be converted into community information points and cultural micro-centers across the city, reports Valencia Plaza.

Valencia is planning its first intergenerational co-housing residence, according to Levante-EMV. The project would include 90 small residential units with shared common areas, placing senior residents on lower floors and younger residents above to encourage interaction. Construction is planned for 2027.

At the same time, suspicion around co-living spaces is growing. Residents in Patraix are protesting plans for a co-living development that includes a so-called “flying swimming pool,” reports Valencia Plaza. Neighbors fear the project is effectively tourist accommodation that will alter the character of the area. Levante-EMV also reports complaints about an alleged illegal hotel/co-living operation in the historic Roca Building, just 200 meters from the Ayuntamiento.

Valencia’s hospitals are becoming increasingly overwhelmed. Levante-EMV reports a lack of beds and wheelchairs at La Fe Hospital’s emergency department. A backlog of scheduled operations and a wave of respiratory illnesses have worsened the situation across the region, writes Las Provincias.

Infinity is set to become Valencia’s largest shopping center, to be built in the city’s newest neighborhood, Turianova, according to Las Provincias. Construction is expected to begin this year, with completion projected for 2028.

The Pla de Quart area has been designated one of Valencia’s first large floodable green zones, reports Levante-EMV. Covering nearly 730 hectares—more than 1,000 football fields—the land between Chiva, Riba-roja de Túria, Aldaia, and Alaquàs will be preserved as green space designed to absorb floodwaters, in an effort to prevent a repeat of the October 2024 DANA disaster.

Culture & Tradition

The Fallero Congress has overwhelmingly voted to reject the idea of a male Fallero Mayor, the symbolic ambassador of the Fallas festival, reports ABC. Traditionally, the role is held by a woman—the Fallera Mayor—who presides over her Fallera court. The issue gained attention after at least one local Falla commission recently elected a man to the role, sparking debate.

Iranians living in Valencia are watching events in their home country with a mix of fear and hope, reports Levante-EMV, in a profile of Iranian-born residents in the city.

Valencia Plaza profiles Qi Hui Zhu, a former Shaolin monk and founder of Valencia’s Shaolin Center, who teaches martial arts locally while also working as an actor and stunt choreographer in Spanish action films. He says the only time he’s ever had to defend himself in Valencia was during Fallas, when a drunken tourist made the mistake of underestimating him.

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That’s all for now. I’ll be back on Thursday with highlights for the long holiday weekend.