VIDEO | Spanish King and Prime Minister’s visit to flood-hit Valencia region interrupted by protests

Ogres

In the flood-hit town of Paiport in the Valencia region, one of the hardest hit by the floods, residents erupted in anger on Sunday, the 3rd of November, with locals attacking the motorcade of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and throwing mud at King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, accusing the authorities of failing to warn them in time of the disaster that has claimed at least 217 lives and left 1 900 people still missing, reports Politico.

“I would like to express our solidarity and assure you that we are aware of the suffering and pain of the people of Paiport,” Sanchez told the media. However, he added that he does “not support the violence that we have seen today”.

Although tens of thousands of volunteers have arrived in Valencia to help with the clean-up efforts, recovery teams have not yet arrived in some of the affected villages, where locals continue to live among collapsed buildings, mud hills and dead bodies.

The people of Paiport were furious when the royal entourage arrived in town on Sunday with a police escort and threw mud, bottles and other objects at them.

“It’s been four days, where have you been?” the outraged locals asked the mud-stained Felipe VI. “You are here only to pose for photographers. You have no shame!”

“You have everything while we don’t even have water to drink,” the angry residents shouted at the obviously upset Queen Letizia, who was covered in mud. “People are dying here! Murderers!” shouted the residents.

The Spanish monarchs tried to stay in the town and talk to the locals, but were eventually forced to leave. When they returned to their vehicles, a policeman’s shout of “Long live the King” was countered by a resident’s cry of “Guillotine!”.

 

Although the Royal Palace initially announced that the monarchs’ visit to the devastated area would go ahead, it later announced that the planned visit to the town of Chiva had been cancelled “following a joint agreement between the State, regional and Royal Palace authorities”.

The local attack on the Spanish monarchs reflects the growing dissatisfaction with the way the Spanish authorities are handling the disaster and its aftermath.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Sanchez promised to deploy 5 000 soldiers and 5 000 police officers, the largest peacetime deployment in Spain to date, to help with recovery efforts.

Sanchez himself faced a strong reaction from locals in Paiport, where an angry mob with shovels attacked his motorcade, smashing windows to one the cars and throwing sticks, forcing him to stop his visit.

 

Regional President Carlos Mazón, who also accompanied the monarchs, faced angry crowds who accused him of inaction on the eve of the floods, calling him a “murderer”.

In a message on X, Mazon said he understood the “public outrage” and said it was his “political and moral duty” to receive it.