They came home to Malaga wearing trousers, jerseys... and hotel slippers. Everything else has remained on the tenth floor of the ship off the Italian coast. José Ramos and his wife Isabel Rodríguez have now reached the end of the nightmare which began on 13th January, when the luxury cruise liner sank, resulting in the deaths of several people. “I thought the worst. I thought we wouldn’t be able to get out”, admits Isabel.

They arrived back home on Sunday evening, on the AVE train from Madrid. Among the relatives waiting anxiously to meet them at the station was Teresa, their 15 year old daughter. When they arrived, there were tears, but now they were of joy. Behind them, they had left scenes of “panic and total chaos”. José is critical of the crew of the Costa Concordia. “We had to rescue ourselves. The people who worked on the ship were the first to leave”, he says.

“People were flying”

Despite everything, José and Isabel were lucky. When the collision occurred, just after 9 o’clock in the evening, they were eating in the restaurant, which is on the same floor as the liferafts. “There was a bang, the tables shook, the lights went out, the ship heeled over completely... and people went flying from one side to the other. We were terrified”, remembers José. At that moment, Isabel could only think of one thing: “Run, keep running, get away”. Despite the dark, and with the ship listing badly, they managed to get as far as the lifeboats but nobody was there to tell them how to release them into the sea. “We were waiting for two hours to get off. The captain kept telling us to keep calm, everything’s OK”, says Isabel.

It was the passengers who eventually worked out a way of getting off the trap which the Costa Concordia had become. They had to leave their shoes behind so they didn’t puncture the plastic dinghies. José and Isabel and the other 33 people in their dinghy were rescued by a cargo ship soon afterwards, but it didn’t head for land until 7 a.m. After going through a checkpoint, they were taken first to a school and from there to a hotel in Rome. They had no other clothes, no money, no documentation. Nothing. “We asked the company for a pair of shoes, at least... but they didn’t give us anything. Not even a cup of coffee. We had nothing to wear on our feet for two days”, they complain, still in the hotel slippers they were eventually given.

They believe this was just like the Titanic. “We had no information. They said it was an electrical emergency. The captain didn’t ask for help for two hours: the waiters and cooks were the ones who released the lifeboats, because there were no ship’s officers, or anybody...” recalls José.

They intend to denounce the Costa Cruceros company “which has behaved dreadfully” and they will put in a claim for the many items they lost in the shipwreck. “The person who was responsible for the Spanish passengers took off his badge and said he was sorry but he didn’t work for Costa Cruceros any more. And left us all to fend for ourselves”, says Isabel. In their heads, they can’t get rid of images of people jumping overboard, a woman with a little girl walking on the hull of the capsized ship, the water hitting the passengers as the swimming pool emptied, the knowledge that people were trapped in the lifts. But they will try to forget. They’re at home now. “I couldn't breathe easily until we were back in Malaga and I knew it was over” admits Isabel.

And so ended what began as a “marvellous” anniversary present, to celebrate 25 years of marriage. They chose the ship because it was the biggest and safest. “But I will never again set foot on a cruise ship in my life. Or even on a small boat!”, says Isabel, but now at least she is smiling.

A Spanish man was among the first victims to be found

The Costa Concordia was carrying 4,232 passengers when she capsized on the 13th, among whom were 188 Spanish nationals. One of them, 68 year old Guillermo Gual, from Mallorca, was among the first five victims to be found by rescuers. His body was recovered from his cabin, in the part of the ship which was below the water. At least eleven people died and others are still missing.