A TEAM of restorers who repaired hundreds of personal keepsakes damaged by the devastating Valencia floods has won Spain’s top heritage award.
Through the project, called Memorias y Patrimonios Personales (‘Personal Memories and Heritage’), the experts collected and restored 235 objects from 17 towns ravaged by the floods in 2024.
Salvaged items included family photographs, documents, musical instruments and old furniture – all plucked from the debris after a devastating storm hit Valencia province on October 29, killing more than 200 people and damaging hundreds of homes.
The programme has now won Spain’s prestigious 2026 National Award for the Restoration and Conservation of Cultural Heritage, presented by the Culture Ministry on October 16 alongside a €30,000 cash prize.
The initiative by the Spanish Association of Conservators-Restorers (ACRE) aimed to save objects and documents that form part of people’s memories and daily lives, as well as those with historical, artistic or documentary value.
Restored items included photographs and other images, ceramics, sculptures, musical instruments, paintings, textiles and objects reflecting local traditions and everyday life.
ACRE said the project also aimed to highlight that cultural heritage is ‘not limited to historic buildings, museums and officially protected works’.
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The initiative also received €300,000 in government funding from the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage and Fine Arts, which is part of the Culture Ministry.
Restoration and conservation experts worked with volunteers and local organisations to recover the damaged objects and decide how best to repair each one.
The judges praised the project’s cross-disciplinary approach, scientific and technical rigour, involvement of local people and focus on the human side of protecting heritage.
They said it could serve as a model for similar initiatives in areas hit by natural disasters, particularly as climate risks grow.
To see the restored objects, visit the Spanish Association of Conservators-Restorers website.
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