The Archbishop of Valladolid and president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), Luis Argüello, presided this Wednesday, July 8, over the funeral for Iván Sanz, general director of the Dehesa de los Canónigos winery; his wife, Irene Garijo; and two of their children, who died last Sunday in a traffic accident in the province of Palencia.
The celebration took place in Valladolid Cathedral and brought together hundreds of people who wished to accompany the family in their farewell. Among those in attendance were the president of the Junta of Castilla y León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco; the first vice president of the Cortes, Carlos Pollán; the mayor of Valladolid, Jesús Julio Carnero; the president of the Provincial Council, Conrado Íscar; and representatives from the business world and the wine sector, including the CEO of Atlético de Madrid, Miguel Ángel Gil Marín.
The influx of the faithful was such that many people followed the celebration from outside the church.
A homily marked by pain and hope
During the homily, Argüello acknowledged the bewilderment caused by a tragedy of this nature and stated that the simultaneous death of four members of the same family leaves everyone speechless.
“The tragedy caused by the concentration in space and time of something unexpected is like a claw that tears away life and extinguishes the candle of the heart,” he said.
The archbishop invited those present to welcome the presence of Christ and the Word of God as a “seed” capable of bearing fruit over time, even when pain makes it difficult to understand what happened.
“Today for us is Friday”
Argüello structured much of his reflection around the mystery of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection.
He recalled Jesus’ cry on the cross—“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”—as an expression of human suffering and affirmed that the Church is called to go through that pain with hope placed in the Resurrection.
“Today for us is Friday,” he said, evoking Good Friday, “but we will move on to the Saturday of waiting and hope to reach Sunday and hear that Jesus Christ has risen.”
A call to faith, hope, and charity
The president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference especially asked for strength for the victims’ relatives and for the couple’s youngest daughter, the sole survivor of the accident.
He also encouraged those present to live faith as a source of strength, hope as a criterion for guiding life, and charity as a commitment to caring for others.
“What is prudent is to want to be saints,” he said, pointing out that work, family, friendship, and daily life are concrete paths to respond to that call.
Shock in Castilla y León
The deaths of Iván Sanz, his wife Irene Garijo, and two of their children have caused deep shock in the Ribera del Duero and throughout Castilla y León. According to El Debate, the funeral brought together hundreds of people and numerous civil and business authorities as well as representatives of the wine sector, reflecting the deep roots and esteem the family enjoyed in the community. Valladolid Cathedral was completely full, forcing many attendees to follow the ceremony from outside the church.
The accident occurred last Sunday at kilometer 83 of the A-67 highway, in the municipality of Herrera de Duero (Palencia), when the vehicle in which the family was traveling left the road. Iván Sanz, his wife Irene Garijo, and two of their children died in the crash.
The sole survivor was the couple’s youngest daughter, nine years old, who remains hospitalized at the University Hospital of Burgos. According to information published by El Debate, the girl is recovering favorably after undergoing surgery and is conscious, although she remains hospitalized.