Last Tuesday, Valencia, Spain experienced one of the worst natural disasters in its history. A historic flood ripped through small, historic towns. Over 200 people are dead and there’s probably hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of damage to communities. There’s also a lot of outrage towards Spain’s government and the country’s lack of disaster-preparedness. The local warnings of the floods came too late for most people to evacuate, and the death toll reflects that. There’s a huge amount of outrage, as there should be. Over the weekend, Spanish civilian volunteers descended on Paiporta to help with the clean up and to bring clothes, bedding, food and necessities to the people affected. King Felipe and Queen Letizia also tried to tour the damage in Paiporta with local officials. The public’s reaction to the tour was brutal – people threw mud at the king and queen, and there was a lot of anger and rage directed at them too.
They came by bus, by tractor or on foot. They waded through mud hoping to help clean up neighborhoods washed away by floodwaters that have killed at least 214 people. Thousands of Spanish citizens made their way to flood-ravaged Valencia over the weekend after the country’s worst natural disaster in recent history left the nation shocked by images of overturned cars and brick homes torn apart by furious water.
The devastation has become a political flashpoint and brought home fears over the effects of climate change. On Sunday morning, as King Felipe VI walked through a crowd in Paiporta, a town in Valencia where more than 60 people died, angry protesters shouted and threw mud.
“Killers!” the crowd shouted, according to video footage shared on Spanish news.
King Felipe was with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, as well as Carlos Mazón, the regional president of Valencia, on whom many residents lay blame for the sending out of official alerts only after the flooding had reached dangerous levels.
Many people in Paiporta, an epicenter of the destruction, are still waiting for basic supplies from emergency services — and for news of their missing loved ones. On Sunday, the grief, fear and anger erupted into frustration that resources were being used for an official walk-through, while emergency workers were still racing to try to find survivors.
“You abandoned us!” some protesters shouted at the officials, as the men who flanked the king opened black umbrellas to protect him from the mud. “Get out of here!”
Here in America, the president and state governor usually only step foot in a disaster-ravaged community unless FEMA has already been on the ground since the beginning. As in, they’ve already cleared the roads and all emergency services have been coordinated. It sounds like there’s been little in the way of coordination or emergency assistance on the ground in Valencia, and people felt like they were being used as a photo-op for politicians and the king and queen. Not to defend the Spanish royals – I honestly don’t care – but it looks like Felipe and Letizia were taking one for the team and getting some of the mud and rage meant for the politicians and government officials. It also looks like Felipe and Letizia were truly trying to talk to people and let them vent and cry. This whole thing sounds like Spain’s Hurricane Katrina.
Lanzan objetos y fango al rey a su llegada a Paiporta: “¡Asesinos!”https://t.co/WdBMbvISwd pic.twitter.com/GAwqOnZuWz
— elDiario.es (@eldiarioes) November 3, 2024
Corren a pedradas al rey Felipe y a la reina Letizia en Valencia; “Asesinos” y “Guillotina al borbón”, les gritaron
La familia real y Pedro Sánchez fueron echados de Paiporta. “Si quieres no vengo y me quedo en Madrid”, respondió indignado Felipe VI.
— Revolución 3.0 (@Revolucion3_0) November 4, 2024
Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia were hit in the face with mud during a visit to the flood-ravaged Valencia region. pic.twitter.com/XfSPj8RhIM
— DW News (@dwnews) November 3, 2024
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.