On 2 April, in the Rector Peset Hall of Residence at 7:00pm, will take place the presentation of the book "Los locos de Valencia (1409-2009). Mitos, rituales y utopías en salud mental" by Cándido Polo Griñán. The documentary "Los locos de Valencia, 600 años después" (Guillermo Polo, 2009) will also be shown.

In the act will take part Teresa Ferrer, Head of PUV; Antonio Ariño, historian and sociologist (UV); María Fuster, lawyer and AEN president; and Cándido Polo, psychiatrist and author of the book.

The creation, on the initiative of Jofré’s father, of the first European hospital for the mentally ill, the Spital dels Ignoscents, is one of the most widespread myths of the Valencia of the late Middle Ages. Nonetheless, those with mental illnesses, despite having this institution to receive treatment, during the following five centuries remained under an imprisonment with deplorable conditions and were made fun of on ritual ceremonies. Towards the end of the 19th century, they were moved to the medieval monastery of Santa María de Jesús, where their condition would not improve, while multiple ambitious projects to accommodate them never saw the light of day. Finally, once in the 70s of the 20th century, the Psychiatric Hospital of Bétera was opened, with the intention of becoming the best in Europe despite the fact that the model in which it was based had already been rejected by the WHO two decades prior. Based on the utopic open city design, it didn’t take long to fail due to its anachronism.

This work provides an eloquent synthesis of the inconsistencies in care suffered by the patients throughout time, which would reach its peak during the institutional commemoration of the “600 years of solidarity”.