The words spoken by Liliana Sáenz de la Torre, daughter of one of the victims of the Adamuz railway accident, set the tone for the funeral held in remembrance of the 45 deceased: a deeply Christian farewell, centered on the Eucharist, on the faith of the people, and on the serene demand for truth, far from any symbolic act alien to the religious sense of mourning.
The intervention took place at the end of the funeral mass held in the Carolina Marín sports pavilion, which brought together more than 4,400 people. Her words provoked prolonged applause and tears of emotion among the attendees, by giving voice to the shared pain of the families and to the way their loved ones should be farewelled.
“The only funeral that fit in this farewell”
Sáenz began her intervention by thanking the diocese for the celebration of the funeral, emphasizing that it was the only one the families considered appropriate:
“In the first place, thanks to our Diocese for this funeral, the only funeral that fit in this farewell, because the only presidency we want by our side is that of the God who today here has become present in the bread and wine”.
The explicit reference to the Eucharist places the center of the act in the Catholic faith and in the real presence of Christ, not in institutional speeches or symbolic gestures. The mention of the Virgin of the Cinta further reinforces the Marian character of the celebration and its roots in popular devotion:
“Huelva is a Marian land, Andalusia is a believing people, and it is by embracing his cross that we find the greatest consolation”.
Gratitude and recognition to the people and to the emergency services
In her speech, Sáenz also expressed broad and detailed thanks to the people of Adamuz and to the city of Córdoba, highlighting the immediate help provided after the accident. She recalled how many neighbors threw themselves “without thinking of the consequences” to assist amid twisted metal, blood, and pain, accompanying the injured and supporting the families in the hardest moments.
She also thanked the security forces, the emergency services, Andalusian healthcare, and the Red Cross, emphasizing not only their professionalism but also the human closeness and empathy shown in the days following the tragedy.
A serene criticism and a request for truth
At the same time, she criticized the slowness in the information provided to the families in the first moments. “It is better to know than to imagine,” she stated, demanding more humane and transparent treatment in situations of this gravity.
Making clear the need to know the truth about what happened. “We are the 45 families who will fight to know the truth because only the truth will help us heal this wound that will never close,” she affirmed, insisting that this search would be done from serenity and peace, not from confrontation.
“They are not just the 45 from the train”
Sáenz rejected that the victims be reduced to a number:
“They were not just a number… they were wagons full of virtues and flaws, of longings and silences, of hope”.
Fathers, mothers, children, grandparents: concrete people, with stories, affections, and projects, abruptly torn away.
Faith, cross, and Christian hope
The speech concluded with a long and heartfelt Marian invocation, entrusting the victims to the Virgin under various advocations and expressing the Christian hope that “in the embrace of God life will conquer death”.
Days before, the families had expressed their rejection of a Masonic funeral promoted by the Government, considering it alien to their Catholic faith. In contrast, the words spoken at the funeral make clear the conviction of the families: authentic consolation is found in God, in the cross, and in the shared faith of a believing people.
We leave below the full speech by Liliana Sáenz de la Torre:
«Majesties, most excellent civil and ecclesiastical authorities who accompany us. Today, when the gale that sweeps through our interior seems to try to calm down, we want to begin these words by giving thanks.
In the first place, thanks to our Diocese for this funeral, the only funeral that fit in this farewell, because the only presidency we want by our side is that of the God who today here has become present in the bread and wine under the gaze of his mother, in her Cinta devotion. Huelva is a Marian land, Andalusia is a believing people, and it is by embracing his cross that we find the greatest consolation. Thanks to those who accompany us out of love, out of compassion, out of empathy… Thanks, even, to those who do it out of agenda.
Thanks to the people of Adamuz, that small corner we will never forget and that will never forget, as well as to the Cordoban city, to those we feel and will feel united forever… without thinking of the consequences, they did not hesitate to immerse themselves in the chaos of twisted metal, blood, pain, and tears. They accompanied our injured until they were sure they were safe and then accompanied us in our lament. They put at our disposal the sustenance and shelter of those bitter days, but above all, they put all their affection, their dedication, and their desire to make that hard moment hurt a little less.
Thanks to the security and emergency forces who came promptly, as always, to the call… they did what they could with the information and means available… thanks for your empathy, your closeness, and your affection in the days that followed.
Thanks to Andalusian healthcare, undoubtedly sustained by the professionals who make it up. I know what it is to return home from a bad shift and hug your children because you know that someone will never be able to do it again with theirs. I know what it is to try to heal the body of someone whose soul is mortally wounded… it must have been very hard, colleagues, thank you. Thanks to the staff and volunteers of the Red Cross, who have not let go of our hand at any moment… if you cannot heal, alleviate… if you cannot alleviate, console… if you cannot console, accompany.
Thanks to our regional institutions, which stood firm from minute zero, bearing the chaos and the onslaughts of our own anguish… allow me, however, a criticism of the slowness of the information because, believe me, it is better to know than to imagine. Thanks also, of course, to the small local corporations whose neighbors went running to spread the word that something serious was shaking the foundations of the community felt our grief as their own… dear Pilar, dear mayors… you have shown that one must be great as a person to be great as a public servant.
And infinite thanks to Huelva, our dear city blessed by the sun, which has not stopped sheltering us in an extraordinary way, making us feel the greatness of its love and its own pain, trying to make ours a little less heartbreaking. And so the days have passed and the pain is giving way to memories and our heart, still with the same sword pierced, begins to sketch small and timid smiles when a thousand past images continually burst into our mind.
I must have been a few years younger when one day I asked my mother… ‘mommy, how much money do you earn?’… I suppose it was something we talked about among kids… ‘just enough, darling’ -she told me- ‘because what remains in my account at the end of the month is not mine’… ‘and whose is it, mom?’, I asked because I didn’t understand… ‘of others’, she told me. That was my mother… generous with everything she had, generous with her willingness, generous with her time, generous with her smiles… that was her.
And the truth is that what we lost that fateful Sunday, January 18, was not just a number… they were wagons full of virtues and flaws, they were wagons full of triumphs and defeats, they were wagons full of longings and silences… they were wagons full of hope. Because they are not just the 45 from the train… they were our fathers, mothers, brothers, sons or grandsons. They are not just the 45 from the train… they were the joy of our awakenings and the refuge of our sorrows. They are not just the 45 from the train… they were the illusion of seeking a better future, the joy of enjoying family moments or the desire to return to our loved ones… they were that which they will never be again. Because they are not just the 45 from the train, they were part of a society so polarized that it began to crack a long time ago and we are not realizing it. They are not just the 45 from the train… but they are the 45 from the train.
And we… we are the 45 families whose clock stopped at 7:45 that fateful afternoon. We are the 45 families who hugged each other in that civic center, where the passage of time was flooding with silence and the silence was giving way to tears when we began to understand in the slow advance of the hours that we would return without them. We are the 45 families who have learned with too much cruelty that the call that is not made remains unmade and the kiss that we do not give is the one we remember the most. We are the 45 families who would trade all the gold in this world, which now is worth nothing, for being able to move the hands of the clock just 20 seconds. And we are also the 45 families who will fight to know the truth because only the truth will help us heal this wound that will never close. We will know the truth, we will fight so that there is never another train, but we will do it from serenity, from relief, from the peace of knowing that in the arms of the Virgin they now sleep and the lap of a mother who loves them is who rocks them.
Little Virgin of the Cinta, patroness of this great people, give them peace, serenity, eternal rest. Beautiful Virgin, pretty Virgin, do not let them go from your side, may they not feel the pain, may they not feel the misery. May love and truth shelter them forever and in the embrace of God life conquer death. Mother of the Almudena, Virgin who guides the path, take them the silent kiss, that goodbye we did not give them. Remedies, beloved mother, queen of the Aljaraqueño, offer them your firm hands so that they never have fear again. Mother of beautiful love, queen of Victory, Sorrows of black mourning, grant them your glory. And guide our lives too, humble Virgin of the Sun, and may mercy abound in our heart. Make this pain cease, dark Virgin of the Carmen, take away this cruel sword with the foam of the seas.
Speech transcribed by El Periódico.com