King Felipe of Spain and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez were met with angry protesters earlier during their visit to Paiporta, a small town close to Valencia that was among the worst-hit by Tuesday’s devastating floods. Video shows a crowd of locals chanting “Murderer!” to the King as he walks down a street, and according to reporters from AFP, the royals and government officials cut their visit short after being pelted with mud. This was the first visit from national leadership since this section of Spain’s east coast suffered the worst natural disaster in the country’s modern history, with over 200 already confirmed dead, a toll which is expected to rise significantly as the mud, water and debris are cleared out in the coming days.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Sanchez announced the deployment of an extra 10,000 soldiers and policemen to assist with recovery efforts, along with much-needed heavy machinery. The floods have left the people of Paiporta and surrounding towns in an increasingly desperate situation, tearing down bridges, leaving locals with no drinking water, and cutting off telecommunications. Most of the cleanup and recovery done in the immediate aftermath of the flood – which involves cleaning streets and thousands of houses of mud, debris large and small, and bodies – has been undertaken by locals and volunteers. Residents have told journalists on the ground that “people feel abandoned,” and that “no one is helping us.” The government’s lack of preparedness was on display from the very beginning, as an emergency alert was sent out to cell phones in the are 2 hours after the flash flood had already passed. Five days on, nearly all footage and photographs from affected areas still show a reddish-brown layer of mud on all the streets.
Police on horseback and bodyguards formed a barrier between the angry locals and the visiting officials, as the crowd yelled insults, brandishing shovels and sticks. After initially retreating to safety, the King and Queen returned to speak with victims of the flood, their faces and clothes flecked with mud hurled at them earlier. One photograph of their interactions shows a flood victim being held by the King as he weeps into his shoulder. One woman was seen telling the Queen that they have gone five days without fresh water. Another local gave the King a piece of his mind regarding the government’s response to the disaster, reportedly telling him that “it was known and nobody did anything to avoid it.”
The Spanish weather service, Aemet, has issued another weather warning, declaring a “significant risk” of rain, storms, and hail for southeast regions that include Valencia and surrounding towns through midnight tonight.
