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Hay una gotera sobre el colchón. ¡Vaya desastre!

Hay una gotera sobre el colchón. ¡Vaya desastre!
There is a leak over the mattress. What a disaster!
From Lesson 341:Noun exclamations (¡vaya...!)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Hay una gotera sobre el colchón. ¡Vaya desastre!

Why do we use vaya here instead of qué to say 'What a disaster'?
You could actually use either! Both ¡Qué desastre! and ¡Vaya desastre! mean 'What a disaster!'. The word vaya is often used before a noun to show strong emotion, surprise, or sometimes irony. While it originally comes from the verb ir (to go), in these exclamations it simply translates to 'What a...'.
Do I need to include the word un in the exclamation, like ¡Vaya un desastre!?
No, you generally leave it out. Unlike English, where we have to say 'What a...', the standard Spanish structure for this type of exclamation is simply vaya followed directly by the noun.
Does gotera mean any kind of leak?
Not quite. A gotera specifically refers to a leak where water drips from a roof or ceiling. It comes from the word gota (drop). If you had a leaking pipe or a gas leak, you would use the word fuga instead.
Why use sobre instead of en for 'over the mattress'?
You could use en to mean the water is 'on' the mattress. However, sobre means 'on top of' or 'above'. Since a gotera is a leak dripping from the ceiling, using sobre perfectly describes the leak hanging directly above or dropping down onto the mattress.

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