“Get out! Get out!” The shouts rang through Paiporta on Sunday as King Felipe VI walked into the town, one of the places hit hardest by the floods that swept Valencia region last Tuesday.
Survivors threw mud at him. Some called the visiting group “murderers” and told them to resign. Queen Letizia, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Carlos Mazón, president of the regional government, were all in the party. Mud landed on the queen’s face, and a post on X, quoted by LBC, said she was left crying in shock.
The king did not retreat at first. He and the queen tried to speak with people who came up to them and to settle the mood, the state broadcaster RTVE reported. Police eventually stepped in, with officers on horseback holding back a crowd of several dozen. Felipe had meant to keep going through the town, but bodyguards shielded him for security reasons, and for a while it was unclear whether the visit would go on.
Anger in the flood zone
Behind the insults are people who lost almost everything. More than 200 people have died after a year’s worth of rain fell in a day in the region. Authorities put the toll at 217 and expect it to climb. Hundreds are still missing, according to LBC, and mobile signal and phone lines remain patchy, so families cannot easily reach one another. Thousands have seen their homes ruined by the wall of water and mud.
Many residents say help and warnings arrived too late. People felt abandoned in the hours and days after the storms, with little aid on the ground. Critics also say the Valencia regional government was slow to pass on warnings from the meteorological service AEMET.
The flooding hit a broad arc of Spain, from Malaga province in the south to Valencia in the east. Water carried off cars and flooded the lower floors of homes. It derailed a train, and the high-speed service between Valencia city and Madrid was knocked out along with several commuter lines. The mayor of Utiel, a town near Valencia, called the day of the storm “the worst day of [his] life.”
Sánchez said Spain “weeps with” those still searching for relatives and friends. His government has announced three days of mourning. After the waters fell, police also launched a crackdown on looters and gangs who hit supermarkets and electrical stores, with the Bonaire Shopping Centre near Valencia airport and the towns of Aldaia and Alfafar among the worst-hit areas.
Sources
- King of Spain and Queen Letizia pelted with mud as angry crowds heckle royals during visit to flash flooded Valencia | LBC
- Locals swear, throw mud during Spanish royal visit to flood zone
