King Felipe VI of Spain called, this Tuesday, December 24, to “learn the necessary lessons” to “grow” after the deadly floods which affected the south-east of the country in October, during his traditional Christmas speech.
A “difficult” fact to accept, but necessary to move forward according to the King of Spain. Almost two months after the deadly floods which affected the south-east of the country, killing 231 people, including 223 in the Valencia region, Felipe VI called for “learning the necessary lessons” to “grow”.
“The catastrophe is a difficult fact to accept, but from which we should all be able to draw the necessary lessons to strengthen ourselves as a society and help us grow,” he declared during his Christmas speech. “We have seen and understood the frustration, the pain, the impatience, the demands for greater and more effective coordination of administrations,” he added.
Immigration and politics at the heart of the Christmas speech
On November 3, five days after the tragedy, King Felipe VI went to Valencia, accompanied by the head of government Pedro Sánchez, and the president of the Valencia region, Carlos Mazón.
Victim of boos and mud throws, the two elected officials had to disappear, while the king, as well as his wife Letizia, remained on site, their clothes stained with mud, before cutting their visit short.
During his speech, the Regent of Spain returned to the political climate in his country, calling for appeasement, before discussing immigration. “Being a daily reality, migration can lead, without appropriate management, to tensions that erode social cohesion,” he continued.
