The dictatorship of Franco forbade political parties and began a harsh ideological and cultural repression countenanced and sometimes even led by the Church. The financial markets were destabilised, causing a severe economic crisis that led to rationing. A black market in rationed goods existed for over a decade. The Francoist administrations of Valencia silenced publicity of the catastrophic consequences of the floods of 1949 with the attendant dozens of deaths, but could not do the same after the even more tragic flood of 1957 when the river Turia overflowed its banks again, killing many Valencians (officially, eighty-one died; the actual figure is not known). To prevent further disasters, the river was eventually diverted to a new course. The old river bed was abandoned for years, and successive Francoist mayors proposed making it a motorway, but that option was finally rejected with the advent of democracy and fervent neighbourhood protests. The river was divided in two at the western city limits (Plan Sur de Valencia), and diverted southwards along a new course that skirts the city, before meeting the Mediterranean. The old course of the river continues, dry, through the city centre, almost to the sea. The old riverbed is now a verdant sunken park called the 'Garden of the Turia' (Jardí del Túria or Jardín del Turia) that allows cyclists and pedestrians to traverse much of the city without the use of roads; overhead bridges carry motor traffic across the park.