Valencia - Introducing a New Crime Scene
Valencia has only recently managed to shake off a long-standing ugly-duckling reputation. Forty years ago, revelling in the city’s griminess and perverseness, Kenneth Tynan dubbed it ‘the world capital of anti-tourism’. Punished by Franco for supporting the Republic during the Civil War, and unloved by much of the rest of the country, Valencia was a backwater, a jewel so encrusted with dirt that few could see the treasure underneath.
But all that has changed. Valencia is now the most exciting city in Spain. Madrid may be the centre of power, and Barcelona a cultural mecca, but Valencia offers the vibrancy of a Mediterranean port without the stress of an oversized metropolis. The most emblematic symbol of the new Valencia is the City of Arts and Sciences - a vast space-age complex of buildings and museums designed by Valencian wunderkind Santiago Calatrava, one of the most feted architects in the world.
Yet the attractions of the old city have also been given attention. When I first arrived here, over ten years ago, chunks of the Moorish city walls and 19th century town houses were close to falling down. Valencia felt neglected. Now, however, much has been restored and painted. For this is a city that loves colour and pageantry, in all its forms. Fallas, the biggest fiesta of the year, heralds the coming of Spring. And Valencians like to mark it with fireworks and bonfires that would pull at the heart-strings of any self-respecting arsonist, while tucking into big plates of saffron-coloured paella - a local delicacy that has become Spain’s national dish.
Yet despite this, all is not rosy. There is a dark side to the city that rarely comes to light. Which was one of the reasons why I started a series of detective novels set here. I wanted to describe the place that had become my home, but to do so in a way that included the shadows and tones of grey. Today no one talks of ‘anti-tourism’, but the edgy, difficult city that Tynan saw hasn’t gone away, not entirely. Accusations of corruption among the city’s political elite are so common now they barely warrant front-page attention.
Then some of the decisions made in the name of progress are controversial. The Cabanyal is an old fishermen’s quarter north of the port. Here tightly packed houses from the turn of the century display facades of Art Nouveau ceramic work. Yet the Town Hall wants to bulldoze a great hole through the neighbourhood. And of course, as with any modern city, Valencia has its share of problems with drugs and the sex trade. As you drive along local roads you often find a building with ‘club’ in fluorescent letters over the door. This is not the local equivalent of the Atheneum, but a brothel.
Despite its faults, though, I have developed a deep attachment to Valencia. It is, and will continue to be, a great Spanish city. And there is more than enough material here for many more crime novels to come.
Jason Webster is the author of Or The Bull Kills You - the first of a new crime series set in Valencia, starring Detective Max Camara.
Exclusive audio podcasts
Click here to listen to Jason Webster introducing Chief Inspector Max Cámara of the Spanish National Police: a flamenco-loving, dope-smoking detective who thinks in proverbs, worries about his fertility and hates bullfighting
Click here to listen to Jason Webster reading from the book
Click here to listen to Jason Webster talk about his home city of Valencia, the setting for his hot-blooded, compelling crime series