Angry residents of flood-hit Paiporta outside of Valencia booed and threw eggs, mud and even rocks at King of Spain Felipe and his Queen Letizia, in anger that over 200 innocent people died in devastating floods.
The crowd began chanting “murderer”, as well as other insults and screaming, as Felipe walked through it with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and regional governor Carlos Mazon.
After they posed for a photo, the crowd began hurling insults at the king, Mazon and Sanchez. The crowd surged forwards as security opened umbrellas to try and protect them from projectiles.
Confronted by a resident, Felipe remained calm and lowered his umbrella to listen to him as police struggled to control those gathered.
Queen Letizia also also spoke with furious residents and seemed visibly shaken, holding her head in her hands and tearing up.
One man fell weeping into the king’s arms. The king was also seen hugging two crying women, with mud on his face and clothes.
Ultimately, anger appeared largely directed a Prime Minister Mazon and Carlos Sanchez, who left early even as the king insisted on staying on despite the chaos, and who were probably more responsible for administration of the catastrophe’s aftermath than the king himself.
The response to the crisis infuriated Valencians, who found it slow and chaotic.
Text alerts came hours after warnings of flooding from the weather service.
On Saturday, Sanchez ordered 5,000 more troops to help with salvage efforts in flooded areas, calling the storm the “worst natural disaster” in the Spain’s history.
As Mazon and Sanchez are from different parties, Spain’s federal government cannot release emergency funds and resources without the authorization from a regional government. Authorization was only granted four days after the floods hit.
On Sunday, authorities called on residents to take shelter as the Spanish Weather Agency increased its weather alert in the coastal Valencia area to the maximum red level due to more expected rain.
The national meteorology department failed to keep storm warnings up to date.
It is unclear why the disconnect between meteorology and government happened.
Local police scrambled with megaphones to tell people to go home from work and avoid the local ravine.
Thousands of volunteers meanwhile have answered the provincial government’s call for help to clear flood debris, but were turned away.
Authorities themselves seemed unprepared and overwhelmed, quickly running out of supplies and scrambling to find more buses to transport people, reports CNN.
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