King Felipe VI of Spain (L) talks with a person as angry residents heckle him during his visit to Paiporta, in the region of Valencia, eastern Spain. Photo / AFP
King Felipe VI of Spain (L) talks with a person as angry residents heckle him during his visit to Paiporta, in the region of Valencia, eastern Spain. Photo / AFP
The King was accompanied by Queen Letizia and government officials who tried to talk to residents in Paiporta, which experienced arounda year’s worth of rain on Tuesday.
Protesters were seen throwing handfuls of mud, stones, and a glass jar towards the King and his entourage.
The monarch later asked his officials to close their umbrellas so he could speak to groups of residents who survived Tuesday’s floods.
“Get out! Get out!” and “killers!” were some of the insults hurled at him. Spanish police were forced to step in, with officers on horseback keeping the crowd away.
The flooding in Spain has killed 211 people so far, nearly all of them in the Valencia region, where thousands of security and emergency services frantically cleared debris and mud in the search for bodies.
Describing “the worst natural disaster in the recent history of our country”, Pedro Sanchez, the Prime Minister, said it was the second deadliest flood in Europe this century before visiting Paiporta on Sunday.
Sanchez appeared alongside the King before he was reportedly hit on the back with a large stick.
There were reports that the prime minister was forced to flee the town after being hounded by some residents. Video footage appeared to show his car being attacked by a crowd including a young man brandishing a shovel.
Photos of what appeared to be his government car then emerged, showing the back window completely smashed out.
The King’s visit came as Spain’s meteorological agency issued a fresh warning for heavy downpours in the Valencia region.
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia visited the town of Paiporta, one of the most affected by the floods that have killed more than 200 people, alongside Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and other officials. Photo / AFP
Up to 100 litres per square metre of water could fall in the province of Castellon and the area surrounding the city of Valencia, the agency forecast.
It also warned that torrential rain may cause flooding in the southern province of Almeria, advising residents not to travel unless strictly necessary.
Restoring order and distributing aid to destroyed towns and villages – some of which have been cut off from food, water and power since Tuesday’s torrential downpours – is a priority.
With Spain deploying an extra 10,000 troops, police and civil guards to the Valencia region, the country was carrying out its largest deployment of military and security force personnel in peacetime, said Sanchez.
A volunteer walks on a muddy street as he leaves Paiporta, in the region of Valencia, eastern Spain, on November 3, 2024, in the aftermath of devastating deadly floods. Photo / AFP
Officers made around 20 arrests on Saturday evening for thievery and acts of looting, police said, with the authorities pledging to crack down on those taking advantage of the disaster to commit crimes.
Authorities – including Carlos Mazon, the Governor of Valencia – have come under fire over the warning systems before the floods, and some residents have complained that the response to the disaster has been too slow.
“I am aware the response is not enough, there are problems and severe shortages ... towns buried by mud, desperate people searching for their relatives ... we have to improve,” said Sanchez.
In the ground-zero towns of Alfafar and Sedavi, AFP reporters saw no soldiers, while residents shovelled mud from their homes and firefighters pumped water from garages and tunnels.
Angry residents of Paiporta shout during King Felipe VI of Spain's visit to this town, in the region of Valencia, eastern Spain. Photo / AFP
“Thank you to the people who have come to help us, to all of them, because from the authorities – nothing,” Estrella Caceres, 66, told AFP in Sedavi.
In Chiva, a town west of Valencia, which Spanish media reported may be visited by the monarchs, Danna Daniella said she had been cleaning her restaurant for three straight days and was still in shock. “It feels like the end of the world,” she said.
She said she was haunted by memories of the people trapped by the raging floodwaters “asking for help and there was nothing we could do”, adding: “It drives you crazy. You look for answers and you don’t find them.”
With telephone and transport networks severely damaged, establishing a precise number of missing people is difficult.
Sanchez said electricity had been restored to 94% of homes affected by power outages, and that around half of the cut telephone lines had been repaired.
