Spain: the king and the prime minister heckled by an angry crowd

After encountering the anger of residents, the King and Queen of Spain as well as the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, cut short their visit on Sunday to the areas affected by the dramatic floods which left at least 217 dead in the southeast of the country.

Arriving in the middle of the day in Paiporta, a suburb of Valencia among the most affected by the tragedy earlier this week, the royal procession was greeted by furious residents who attacked Mr. Sánchez and the right-wing president from the region, Carlos Mazón. The police struggled to contain the crowd.

Assassins! Assassins! she shouted to the attention of the Prime Minister and Mr. Mazón, who accompanied the sovereigns. Residents threw mud and various objects at the procession, while insults were poured out.

In an extremely tense atmosphere, the sovereigns even received mud – which was not intended for them – in their faces and on their clothes, an unprecedented situation in the history of the Spanish monarchy.

Impassive and dignified throughout this extraordinary episode, they stayed there for about an hour to talk to residents and try to calm their anger before leaving.

For their part, MM. Sánchez and Mázon quickly left the scene, evacuated by very worried protection services.

The visit of the sovereigns, which was then to continue to Chiva, another town near Valencia hard hit by the tragedy, was suspended a little later, according to Spanish media.

Pedro Sánchez and especially Carlos Mazón have been under fire since the floods that occurred overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday in the region. Mazón resignation! demanded residents, who also sang songs asking where is Pedro Sánchez? and threw all kinds of insults at him.

The regional government of Valencia is accused of having sent a telephone alert message to residents very late on Tuesday, when the meteorological services had placed the region in red alert first thing in the morning. Residents also criticize the central government for the slowness of relief operations.

I understand social anger and I am of course there to receive it. It is my political and moral obligationreacted Mr. Mazón in a message on X, adding that the king’s attitude during this visit had been copy. For his part, Mr. Sánchez recognized theanguish and suffering victims, but condemned any type of violence.

The toll could rise

According to a latest report, 217 people died in the floods, including 213 in the Valencia region alone, one in Andalusia and three in Castile-la-Mancha, where the lifeless body of a sixty-year-old woman from Letur who went missing on Tuesday was discovered Sunday morning.

In Letur, in the province of Albacete, the body of this woman carried away by the raging waves was discovered 12 kilometers from the place of her disappearance, indicated the government delegate in the region, Pedro Antonio Ruiz Santos.

The authorities expect the toll to rise. There are still flooded ground floors or garages, basements and parking lots to be cleared and it is foreseeable that bodies will be found in these spacesindicated the Minister of Transport, Oscar Puente.

The scenes of near-riots which took place in Paiporta can be explained by the fact that on the ground, the population remains grappling with a dramatic situation.

Many transport and telecommunications infrastructures have been destroyed or put out of service, and in many localities, piles of cars and muddy debris still litter the roadways.

It seems like the end of the worldHelena Danna Daniella, owner of a bar-restaurant in Chiva, told Agence France-Presse, saying she was still in shock five days after the bad weather.

People trapped in raging waves were asking for help and there was nothing we could do. […] It drives you crazy. We look for answers and we don’t find them.

Faced with this chaos, Mr. Sánchez announced on Saturday the sending of 5,000 additional soldiers to the region, bringing their numbers to 7,500, i.e. the largest deployment of armed forces ever carried out in Spain in peacetimeaccording to his terms.

According to the police, 20 new arrests took place on Saturday evening for acts of theft and looting, bringing to around a hundred the total number of people arrested for such offenses since Wednesday.

Furthermore, the National Meteorological Agency has decreed a new red alert (extreme risk) on the southern coast of Valencia between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., warning of possible precipitation of 90 mm.