Tour Mestalla reopens with homage to Cruz Roja

The Tour Mestalla reopens its doors on Wednesday, July 22nd, and features some new additions to the trip around the historic stadium. Valencia CF president Anil Murthy showed Cruz Roja volunteers, plus Cruz Roja Valencia president Nieves Dios and vice president Pedro Redón, the tour the day before it got back underway.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out , the role of the Cruz Roja (Red Cross) has been fundamental. Through the RESPONDE plan they have helped more than 2,300,000 vulnerable people, in what has been the greatest deployment of resources and people in its history in Spain. As a tribute to the efforts made by all those volunteers willing to help those most in need, Valencia CF invited the Cruz Roja representatives to see the Mestalla Forever Tour ahead of its opening to the general public.

Their hard work is recognised in a new mural in the dressing room, paying tribute to those affected by COVID-19.

“Today is a day of tribute to all those affected by the terrible COVID-19 virus. This is a permanent area that will allow all Valencian people who come to the tour to remember this season, which has been very strange due to the pandemic. We must continue to be vigilant, because COVID-19 is not going away tomorrow, and as a society we must take care to avoid more problems in the future. Mestalla has always been an emblematic place where Valencian people can come in difficult times, as we are currently doing through the project with the Banco de Alimentos Food Bank to help society, in addition to other projects. Valencia CF is more than just a football club. It is the city’s most important social ambassador and we want to work with everyone to try to give people back the feeling football provides. I am very happy to be here with Nieves Dios and the volunteers. They are the first group that will take the Mestalla Tour before its opening to the public this Wednesday, to try, in this difficult period, to return to normality.” said Anil Murthy.

Nieves Dios added that “This has been very exciting for us. Being here and meeting the Valencia CF president was very nice. That goes beyond a visit. The people here seem to have a strong sense of solidarity, and look to transmit the human values that are present in sport and social values. Meeting them was a bonus, and we have an exquisite relationship with the club. This was the icing on the cake.”

“We are still going through a very complicated situation. We have had to stay strong. There has been a demand for volunteers that have been present continuously, without any time schedule, tirelessly. Young people, people who had never seen the Cruz Roja before, with our veterans monitoring and supporting the others. It makes me very emotional to see the work that we have done, and that we are now keeping up the distribution of food and attention to people. The pandemic is harder for those who are in a worse situation, and we can’t forget that.”