King Felipe is heckled and has mud thrown at him by livid locals throughout go to to flood-hit Valencia – as rescuers proceed determined seek for hundreds nonetheless lacking
Spain‘s King Felipe has been heckled and had mud thrown at him by furious local during his visit to Valencia, where more than 200 people died in devastating floods.
The monarch was pelted with mud and objects like drink cans by angry survivors of the deadly floods as he walked through the muddy streets in Paiporta, one of the hardest-hit towns on the outskirts of Valencia.
The crowd shouted insults at King Felipe VI as well as government officials during the visit on Sunday, with police having to step in with officers on horseback to keep back the crowd of several dozens.
Over 200 people have died from Tuesday’s floods and hopes of finding survivors ebbed five days after torrents of muddy water wrecked towns and infrastructure in Spain’s worst such disaster in decades.
Almost all the deaths have been in the Valencia region, where thousands of security and emergency services frantically cleared debris and mud in the search for bodies.
Spain’s King Felipe has been heckled and had mud thrown at him by furious local during his visit to Valencia, where more than 200 people died in devastating floods
Angry residents of Paiporta shout during King Felipe VI of Spain’s visit to this town, in the region of Valencia, eastern Spain, on November 3, 2024
A crowd of angry survivors tossed mud and shouted insults at King Felipe VI as well as government officials when they made their first visit to one of the hardest hit towns on Sunday
King Felipe’s visit to Paiporta was accompanied by shouting from enraged locals
Rescue teams search for missing people in a flooded residential car park in Picanya municipality, Valencia, on November 2 following the storm
A volunteer cleans up a town square after flash floods in Paiporta, a town which was particularly affected by the floods
A police officer checking inside piled up vehicles for victims in the aftermath of the flooding on Saturday
Describing ‘the worst natural disaster in the recent history of our country,’ Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said it was the second deadliest flood in Europe this century.
The government had accepted the Valencia region leader’s request for 5,000 more troops and informed Sanchez of a further deployment of 5,000 police and civil guards, the premier said.
Spain was carrying out its largest deployment of military and security force personnel in peacetime, he added.
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 torrent – is a priority.
Authorities have come under fire over the warning systems before the floods, and some stricken residents have complained the response to the disaster is 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,’ Sanchez said.
In the ground-zero towns of Alfafar and Sedavi, reporters saw no soldiers while residents shovelled mud from their homes and firefighters pumped water from garages and tunnels.
‘Thank you to the people who have come to help us, to all of them, because from the authorities, nothing,’ a furious Estrella Caceres, 66, told AFP in Sedavi.
Authorities in the Valencia region have restricted access to roads for two days to allow emergency services to carry out search, rescue and logistics operations more effectively.
With telephone and transport networks severely damaged, establishing a precise figure of missing people is difficult.
Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia shake hands with authorities and emergency service personnel outside a command center as they visit the areas affected by the DANA, following heavy rains that caused floods, in Paiporta, near Valencia, Spain November 3, 2024
A handout photo made available by the Spanish Royal Household shows Spain’s Queen Letizia speaks to the Mayor of Paiporta, Maribel Albalat, as she arrives to visit the control station for the floods in Valencia, eastern Spain, 03 November 2024
Volunteers and residents clean the mud four days after flash floods swept away everything in their path in Paiporta, outskirts of Valencia
Rescuers continue to search for survivors with fears underwater car parks will be ‘mass graves’
Water streams down a stairs in a town in Majorca as the roads are submerged by high floodwaters
A view of the demolition works at a damaged house after flash floods in Letur, province of Albacete, Spain
People wearing PPE try to sweep away mud as they desperately clean up the streets
Food donations were made available to hard-hit residents in Valencia
Cars piled up in a ditch at a construction site after being swept off the road by powerful floods
Vehicles pile up in the streets caused by late Tuesday and early Wednesday storm that left hundreds dead or missing in Alfafar, Valencia
Sanchez said electricity had been restored to 94 percent of homes affected by power outages and that around half of the cut telephone lines had been repaired.
Some motorways have reopened but local and regional roads resembled a ‘Swiss cheese’, meaning certain places would probably remain inaccessible by land for weeks, Transport Minister Oscar Puente told El Pais daily.
Ordinary citizens carrying food, water and cleaning equipment continued their grassroots initiative to assist the recovery on Saturday.
Around 1,000 set off from the Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia towards nearby towns laid waste by the floods, an AFP journalist saw.
‘There’s nothing left,’ Mario Silvestre, a resident in the ruined town of Chiva, told AFP on seeing the damage.
‘Politicians promise a lot. Help will come when it comes,’ said the octogenarian.
Authorities have urged people to stay at home to avoid congestion on the roads that would hamper the work of emergency services.
Regional leader Carlos Mazon called the floods ‘the worst moment in our history’ on Saturday and laid out a series of proposals to help his region recover, ranging from infrastructure to economic support.
He is due to visit flood-hit areas along with the royals and Sanchez on Sunday, Spanish news agency EFE reported.
The storm and flooding has left carnage in its wake, with a huge clean-up operation now underway
Thousands of people arrive at the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias complex to volunteer in helping in the reconstruction and cleaning of towns affected by flash floods, in Valencia
A bulldozer is used to clear vehicles from streets in the town of Catarroja, in the region of Valencia
Civil Guard officers search for survivors inside cars trapped under the foundations of a building under construction in the town of Paiporta, Valencia
The official death toll stands at 211, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told a press conference on Saturday morning
Officials expect the death toll to keep rising, with the disaster already Europe’s worst flood-related calamities since 1967 when at least 500 people died in Portugal
A woman carries a shopping trolley through a flooded street in Manasa, province of Valencia
People walking through a muddy street in Alfafar, Valencia following the mega storm
Officers searching piled up cars in Alfafar for victims. Over 2,000 people are still missing following the severe flooding
The storm that sparked the floods on Tuesday formed as cold air moved over the warm waters of the Mediterranean and is common for this time of year.
But scientists warn climate change driven by human activity is increasing the ferocity, length and frequency of such extreme weather events.
Emergency services late Saturday issued an updated of toll of 213 people confirmed killed – 210 in the Valencia region, two in neighbouring Castilla-La Mancha and one in Andalusia in the south.
Authorities have warned the toll could yet rise, as vehicles trapped in tunnels and underground car parks are cleared.
