Protesters throw mud at the Spanish king during his visit to Valencia

“I realize that the answer is not enough, there are problems and serious shortages … cities flooded with mud, desperate people looking for their relatives … we have to improve,” Sanchez said.

In the ground zero towns of Alfafar and Sedavi, AFP reporters saw no soldiers, while residents shoveled dirt from their homes and firefighters pumped water out of garages and tunnels.

“Thank you to the people who came to help us, all of them, because from the authorities: nothing,” an angry Estrella Caceres, 66, told AFP in Sedava.

“It feels like the end of the world”

In Chiva, a city west of Valencia that Spanish media reports the monarchs may visit, Danna Daniella said she cleaned her restaurant for three days straight and was still in shock.

“It feels like the end of the world,” said a woman in her 30s.

She said she was haunted by memories of people trapped by flash floods “begging for help but there was nothing we could do”.

“It drives you crazy. You look for answers and you don’t find them.”

Due to severe damage to telephone and transport networks, it is difficult to establish the exact number of missing persons.

Sanchez said electricity had been restored to 94 percent of the homes affected by the outages, and that about half of the downed phone lines had been repaired.

Transport Minister Oscar Puente told El Pais daily that some places will likely remain inaccessible due to drought for weeks.