World
Angry crowds hurl mud and insults at King of Spain as he visits town devastated by floods
A crowd of angry survivors have hurled mud and insults at Spain’s King Felipe during a visit to one of the worst flood-hit towns.
The King and his wife, Queen Letizia, along with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, were touring devastated Paiporta, just outside Valencia, when they were confronted by locals.
Mr Sanchez was evacuated from the scene, according to Spanish broadcaster RTVE, when the official contingent started to walk the mud-covered streets of Paiporta, where more than 60 people were killed in the historic floods.
Police on horseback were forced to step in and push back a crowd of several dozen people.
“Get out! Get out!” and “Killers!” rang out among other insults.
“They knew it, they knew it, and yet they did nothing,” one young man shouted at the king while waving a finger in his face.
The king leaving the scene after the crowd of angry survivors tossed mud and shouted insults at him. Pic: AP
A piece of mud thrown at the king is intercepted by a member of his security. Pic: Reuters
One young woman swatted a bodyguard with a long pole.
Pictures of the king’s visit to Paiporta show his face covered in flecks of mud, but after being forced to seek protection, he seemed to remain calm as he proceeded to talk to residents.
One person appeared to have wept on his shoulder. He shook the hand of a man.
The overall number of deaths from the devastating floods which hit the south and east of Spain on Tuesday and Wednesday has gone up to 217, with most of them being reported in the Valencia region.
Vehicles marked by firefighters, with a code indicating that they have searched for casualties from the floods in Paiporta. Pic: Reuters
Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia shake hands with Spanish Civil Guards. Pic: Casa de S.M. el Rey/Jose Jimenez/Reuters
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Dozens of people were still unaccounted for, while some 3,000 households still had no electricity, officials said.
Thousands of additional troops and police joined the disaster relief effort over the weekend in the largest such peacetime operation in Spain.
The floods engulfed streets and lower floors of buildings, and swept away cars and bits of masonry in tides of mud.
Volunteers and residents clean up the mud from flash floods in Paiporta, yesterday. Pic: AP
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The tragedy is already Europe’s worst flood-related disaster in a single country since 1967 when at least some 500 people died in Portugal.
Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent in Europe, and elsewhere, due to climate change.