In this sense, I wanted to be accepted… because I was about to die many times and I also realised that, after all those experiences, I would find it very difficult to be out in the streets again. I left home when I was very young, only seventeen, and I started to search for any kind of job. What I am realising now, what I find infuriating is that people look at homeless people and tell them go and find a job. (David Wojnarowicz)
The historical downtown underwent a severe degradation at an urban level, with buildings falling down because they were totally damaged. People coming from abroad used to say: Valencia looks like Beirut. More than a European city, it seems as if it had been bombed, and when staying in el Carmen Centre you had to live surrounded by ruins (Juan Delgado)