Crowd throws mud, insults Spanish royal family, PM visits flood zone

On Sunday, angry locals pelted Spain’s royal family and prime minister with mud and chants of “murderer!”, forcing officials to cancel a visit to the city worst hit by flooding that has killed more than 200 people.

An angry mob in the city of Paiporta focused most of its anger on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the head of the Valencia region, both of whom were led away by security.

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia were hit in the face and clothes with mud as they tried to calm the angry crowd, AFP journalists saw.

The dramatic scenes broadcast on Spanish television underscored the depth of anger in the country over the response to the country’s worst such disaster in decades, which has seen the death toll rise and hopes of finding survivors fade after five days.

The king and queen arrived just after noon at the crisis center in Payport, the site of what Sanchez called the second deadliest flood in Europe this century.

But more security guards were soon called in to stand between the royals and the rest of the delegation and the angry crowd, whose anger appeared to be most directed at Sanchez and the head of the Valencia region, Carlos Mason.

“I understand social anger and of course I’m here to get it. It is my political and moral duty,” Mason later said in a post on X, calling the king’s behavior “exemplary.”

The king and queen spent an hour trying to quell the tension before leaving, while Sánchez and the politicians quickly left, not before the back window of the prime minister’s car was smashed.

Sanchez later said that while sympathizing with the victims’ “pain and suffering,” he condemned “all forms of violence.”

Almost all of the flood victims were in the Valencia region, where Spain’s meteorological agency issued a new warning for heavy downpours in the region on Sunday.

According to the agency’s forecasts, places in the province of Castellón and the area around the city of Valencia could get up to 90 liters per square meter (22 gallons per square yard) of water.

He also warned of torrential rain that could cause flooding in the southern province of Almeria, advising residents not to travel unless absolutely necessary.

“Cities buried in dirt”

After torrential rain and mud swept away vehicles and destroyed towns and infrastructure on Tuesday, thousands of rescue workers frantically cleared debris in search of bodies.

Authorities have come under fire for flood warning systems, and affected residents say the response to the disaster was too slow.

Mason himself was heavily criticized for waiting too long to make a phone call in Valencia.

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

An additional 10,000 soldiers, police and civil guards have been sent to the Valencia region, Spain’s largest peacetime deployment of military and security forces, Sanchez said.

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

At Chiva, Danna Daniella said she cleaned her restaurant three days in a row.

She said she was still in shock, haunted by memories of people trapped by the raging flood, “calling for help but there was nothing we could do”.

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

Volunteers en masse

Transport Minister Oscar Puente told El Pais that certain places will likely remain inaccessible with land for weeks.

Ordinary citizens with food, water and clean-up equipment continued to help in the recovery effort, although authorities urged people to stay indoors to avoid traffic jams.

On Sunday, Valencia’s government limited the number of volunteers allowed to travel to the city’s southern outskirts to 2,000 and restricted access to 12 towns.

Despite this, thousands walked to nearby communes, carrying brooms and shovels, to help the victims.

Pope Francis offered his prayers for those affected by the elements, “who are suffering so much these days.”

The storm that caused Tuesday’s flooding formed as cold air moved over the warm waters of the Mediterranean and is typical for this time of year.

But scientists warn that human-induced climate change is increasing the ferocity, duration and frequency of such extreme weather events.

On Sunday, emergency services updated the data on 217 dead.

It listed 213 dead in the Valencia region, one in Andalusia in the south and three in Castilla-La Mancha, which neighbors Valencia, where the body of a woman in her 60s was discovered on Sunday.

Authorities are warning that tolls could rise further as vehicles stuck in tunnels and underground car parks are cleared.