A flag in Sevilla for each Covid victim

FIFTY-THREE thousand Spanish flags appeared overnight on the banks of the Guadalquivir in Sevilla on Sunday morning.

Each flag represented one of Spain’s Covid-19 victims in a homage organised by the National Association of Coronavirus Victims (Anvac), similar to those already held in Madrid and Valencia.

The flags that extended from the Alamillo bridge as far as San Jeronimo on the left bank of the Guadalquivir were put in place by 170 volunteers, many of whom had recovered from Covid-19 or lost a loved one during the pandemic.

Although previously alerted, they were unaware of the exact location until the last minute.

They worked from 6am to place the 53,000 flags, three thousand more than those used in Madrid or Valencia.

Anvac’s president Jaime Sanchez lamented the additional flags: “Unfortunately the National Statistics Institute increased the number of mortal victims,” he told broadcaster, La Sexta.

“Behind each of those numbers there is a family crying over the loss of a relative,” Sanchez said, calling for justice for those who died.

Sevilla city hall confirmed later that the organisers did not have permission to plant the flags.

Anvac announced that after holding a minute’s silence and reading a manifesto in the Glorieta Olimpica adjoining the Alamillo bridge, the volunteers would leave the site “in perfect condition.”