If the previous rally in support of the Márquez Villaverde family in Santo Domingo de la Calzada was already overwhelming, with the Plaza de España full of citizens carrying a sign with Javier’s photograph, what happened this Thursday night was already immense. Five overwhelming minutes of exciting silence, of maximum respect, with feelings on the surface. A people united not by politics, not by religion, not by football but by a deceased young man and the suffering of his family. Because what happened, a misfortune, has felt like something that could have happened to any young person, to any family.
Around 3,000 people gathered carrying a sign that was distributed at the entrances with photos of Javier Márquez and the following messages: “Always with you, Javi, with your family and friends” and “We are no longer looking for you because you are here: in our hearts.” , so inside, so forever. They were hard times, but also necessary, to support family and friends. It was the beginning of the end.
Specifically, Javier’s friends came in a group and dressed in the Margubete 47 chamizo shirt. During the 5 minutes of silence that was experienced, only slightly pierced by the screams of some children playing in the yard of the Beato Jerónimo Hermosilla school, oblivious to tragedy, some of the friends burst into tears, inconsolable but united. Afterwards, they left broken amidst applause.
Javier’s friends, from the Margubete 47 chamizo, broken by pain. Justo Rodríguez
Javier Camus, Javier’s judo instructor, announced the reading of a statement and after the deathly silence that even allowed us to hear the drone of a drone, the first applause broke out. The family spokesperson, Noelia Pascual, took the floor to thank the people and the volunteers for their work. Among his words, on the verge of tears, he highlighted the following message: «We are not saying goodbye to Javier, we are welcoming him because from today he will be present in each and every one of us, in all of you who have put your shoulder to him. “This family is in one of the most difficult moments of their lives and ours.”
Poetic, symbolic, but no less true. Because Javier Márquez, within the tragedy of his disappearance and death, has extracted the best from many people, an unconditional, unprecedented support, almost inappropriate for the selfish and superficial times in which we live. People who didn’t know Javier were looking for him daily, like Rodrigo Monasterio from Logroño. People with their own families dedicated to the search, like Javier Albo and José Ramón Cañas. People sacrificing part of his business, like those responsible for the La Mina bar, making it available to family and friends. People like the volunteer firefighters who, outside their working hours, risked their lives entering the Ebro to search and find Javier.
Oja Valley Drones (Jorge Sánchez Bartolomé)
«Today we gather for the last time in this square, but today is to give visibility to the people of Santo Domingo, to the volunteers who have given us energy, wings, affection, encouragement, and who have carried us day after day in the search of Javier,” Noelia Pascual explained to the public. «We promised to look for him, not to stop until we found him and so we did and we kept our word although not with the result that we all expected. And now from here we promise that we will not forget him, that we will take care of his family as we have done until today, that they will not feel alone, and that we will always have him in our hearts, alive, radiant as he was, is and will be. “eternally,” Noelia added, excited and grateful. However, she, along with Javier’s uncle, Francisco Villaverde, have shouldered a significant burden for more than two weeks, putting on a good face daily in front of the media and volunteers, supporting a castle that is increasingly made of cards rather than stone.
Thousands of posters with the image of Javier Márquez have been distributed at the entrances so that attendees could show them during the five minutes of silence that have been observed.
“Do not take it as a farewell, because from today we have a star that will take care of us, as we will take care that it is always alive in each and every one of us,” Pascual concluded, and stressed that the family will be eternally grateful to his town and each and every one of his neighbors.
The spokesperson’s words were a breath of oxygen, a breath of bitter gratitude that silenced everyone. Only applause was heard. Applause and claps of hugs. There were no words for more or anything to say. Until a spontaneous cry said: “Long live Javier!”; and those present, after a new applause, began to leave the square with their hopes broken, their hope deflated like a balloon, their spirits broken, with this feeling of unjust defeat that no one wants, wrote Pablo García Casado, “like a candy after of sucking.
Improvised altar with candles in memory of Javier Márquez. Justo Rodríguez
“Unfortunately, this was not the ending that was expected”
The spokesperson for the Márquez Villaverde family, Noelia Pascual, wanted, at the end of the event, to address the media to explain that “we wanted to do this because the family has expressly asked us to come and thank them for all the effort of the nineteen days all of Santo Domingo, one of the best towns for the Márquez Villaverde family. Regarding Javier Márquez’s friends, Noelia Pascual described that “they are destroyed, they have been tirelessly searching for him, blaming themselves, reproaching themselves for something that unfortunately has happened and there is no explanation, the end has been inhumane.” «Unfortunately, this was not the ending that was expected. We said that we would not stop looking for him until we found him and that is what happened,” concluded Noelia Pascual.
2024-03-21 20:12:43
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