Video shows an angry crowd throwing objects at the King of Spain
Spain’s king and queen have been pelted with mud and other objects by angry protesters during a visit to flood-hit Valencia.
Cries of “murderer” and “shame” were heard against the royal couple, Spain’s prime minister and other leaders as they walked through the city of Paiporta – one of the worst hit in the region.
With mud on their faces and clothes, we later saw King Felipe and Queen Letizia comforting members of the crowd.
The floods killed more than 200 people, the worst in Spain in decades. Emergency workers continue to search underground parking garages and tunnels in the hope of finding survivors and recovering bodies.
There was anger at the perceived lack of warning and insufficient support from authorities following the floods.
Footage showed the king walking down a pedestrian street before his bodyguards and police were suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of protesters, shouting insults and shouting.
Getty Images
King Felipe was harassed by angry residents during his visit to Paiporta
They struggled to maintain a protective ring around the frost, while some protesters threw mud and objects.
The king talked to several people and even hugged them.
Images showed mud on the faces and clothes of the king, queen and their entourages, who held umbrellas over the monarch as they left.
Queen Letizia in tears during a visit to flood-hit Valencia
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the head of the Valencian regional government, Carlos Mazón, joined the royal couple on the visit but were quickly evacuated as the crowds grew increasingly hostile.
Spanish media report that objects were hurled at Sánchez, while footage verified by the BBC appears to show stones being thrown at his car as he was driven away.
After he left, the crowd chanted, “Where is Sánchez?”
“I’m only 16,” one boy, Pau, told the BBC in tears. “We help – and the leaders do nothing. People are still dying. I can’t bear this anymore.”
Another woman said: ‘They left us to die. We have lost everything: our businesses, our homes, our dreams.”
The vigilante and mounted officers were later seen trying to disperse the angry crowd.
The royal entourage had planned to travel to Chiva, another city in the province of Valencia that was hit hard by the floods, but that visit has now been postponed.
The king later said he understood the “anger and frustration” of the protesters in a video posted to the royal family’s Instagram account.
Getty Images
So far, more than sixty deaths have been reported in the city of Paiporta
Paiporta mayor Maribel Albalat told the BBC she was shocked by the violence but understood “the frustration and desperation of the people”.
Juan Bordera, member of the Valencian parliament, called the king’s visit “a very bad decision”.
Authorities “didn’t listen to warnings,” Bordera told the BBC.
“It is logical that people are angry, it is logical that people did not understand why this visit is so urgent,” he added.
On Saturday, Sánchez sent another 10,000 troops, police and vigilantes to the area.
He said the deployment was Spain’s largest in peacetime. But he added that he was aware the response was “not enough” and acknowledged “serious problems and shortages”.
The flooding started on Tuesday after a period of heavy rainfall. Floods soon caused bridges to collapse and envelop towns in thick mud.
Many communities were cut off and lost access to water, food, electricity and other basic services.
Getty Images
Voluntary clean-up efforts have seen thousands of people take to the worst-affected areas with mops, buckets and brooms
On Sunday, the death toll from the flooding rose to 217, and many more were feared missing.
Almost all confirmed deaths so far have occurred in the Valencia region on the Mediterranean coast.
Some areas are particularly devastated. Authorities in Paiporta, the town visited by the royal delegation today, have reported at least 62 deaths.
Spain’s meteorological agency AEMET issued the highest alert level on Sunday for parts of southern Valencia, including the towns of Alzira, Cullera and Gandia.
The intense storms expected to pass through the area will not be of the magnitude seen on Tuesday, the agency said, with precipitation expected to reach 90 mm (3.45 inches).
With additional reporting from Mimi Swaby
Leave a Reply