During a visit after the devastating floods, King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain were greeted with boos and mud-throwing. A surprising and unprecedented scene for a member of the royal family, resulting from clumsy management of the situation. A look back at this eventful reception and the communication errors that led to this fiasco.
It was to be expected. Security was taken aback because it was the result of a series of errors. The first mistake was to have included both a royal couple and elected officials in the same visit. The president of the region, Prime Minister Carlos Sanchez, it was in fact they who were the first to be targeted by all these jets, particularly mud throwing, it was they who were blamed for having sent the warning signals to populations.
Felipe and Laetizia, we don’t see him much, but they were kissed by certain residents before and after, in particular. Clearly, there were too many politicians in this delegation, perhaps two visits should have been organized. The second mistake was not having gone to the scene a little earlier. We are almost a week away here, even if the king, the day after the floods, contacted the army to find out where we were with the relief efforts. He offered his condolences to the victims in the Canary Islands.
And then the third mistake was not having sufficiently perceived the tension that rose on the ground just before the visit. Because just before the visit, we saw the authorities cleaning the street to welcome the royal couple, clearing the cars, installing the press. Obviously, the public had the feeling that their misfortune was being staged. It wasn’t very smart, it would have been better to have a spontaneous field visit. Anyway, we’re not remaking history.
A recurring problem
It’s often a timing problem with royal families. They always arrive a little too late. We remember Elizabeth II in the 1960s who arrived much too late in Aberfan when this mine collapsed on a school. There were dozens of children buried, she blamed herself all her life. There was his return to London after Diana’s death. She stayed at Balmoral for a week, we all remember that. King Albert, back home, who was criticized for having returned a little too late from the south of France after the Julie and Mélissa affair. The question is obviously what is the right timing in all of this? If they arrive too quickly, we will say that it is demagoguery, that it is recovery. And if they arrive too late, the population may consider it an insult.
So, there are two very strong examples from us. It’s true that there is 2021 with King Philippe who has been on the field several times. The day after the floods, the 15th, he was in Chaudfontaine. Then, in Pepinster, a day later. On July 20 he went a third time. And he had the intelligence to come back to check on the victims two months later. And a year later, obviously, it’s in these situations that things get done. When we are in the presence of families and rescuers, we collaborate in the life of the country. And so, to this beating heart.
felipe Royalty Royal Family Valencia Floods Spain Laetizia
