Salvador Valera Parra

After his ordination, Father Valera returned to Huércal-Overa as a vicar, then served in Alhama de Murcia. In 1851, he became the parish priest of his hometown, Huércal-Overa. In 1864, he was sent to Cartagena, where he distinguished himself by his heroic dedication during the cholera epidemic of 1865, tirelessly visiting the sick. For his exemplary action, Queen Isabella II of Spain decorated him with the Cross of the Order of Charles III. In 1868, he returned permanently to Huércal-Overa. In 1885, faced with a new cholera epidemic, he collaborated with Saint Teresa Jornet e Ibars to found a hospice for the needy elderly.

Father Salvador Valera Parra passed away on March 15, 1889, in Huércal-Overa, after enduring serious illnesses with admirable patience. His death stirred immense popular emotion and he was buried in the parish church of the Assumption of Huércal-Overa. His reputation for holiness grew rapidly. His cause for beatification was officially opened at the diocesan level in 1991. On March 17, 2021, Pope Francis signed the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, thereby declaring him Venerable.

A miracle attributed to his intercession, concerning the unexplained healing of a newborn in cardio-respiratory arrest, was officially approved by the Pope on June 20, 2025. The solemn ceremony of beatification was celebrated on February 7, 2026, in Huércal-Overa, presided over by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. His liturgical feast is set for February 27, the anniversary of his birth.

The spirituality of Blessed Salvador Valera Parra rests on an intimate union with Christ through Eucharistic adoration and a filial devotion to the Virgin Mary, under the title of Our Lady of the Forsaken. Nicknamed the "Spanish Curé d'Ars" because of his pastoral zeal, his evangelical poverty, and his closeness to the humblest, he marked the religious history of his region through his active charity during natural disasters and epidemics.