The visit this Sunday of the Kings, the president of the Government and the head of the Consell to Paiportaground zero of the catastrophic floods last Tuesday in the province of Valencia, led to altercations that included shouting, insults and throwing mud at the procession. The indignation of the neighbors at what they interpret as abandonment and institutional helplessness in the face of the situation they are experiencing erupted with moments of great tension in which they feared for the safety of the authorities. In fact, Pedro Sánchez abandoned the visit when his escort activated the protocol, while Felipe VI and Mrs. Letizia, as well as Carlos Mazón, remained surrounded by victims who showed them their enormous anger and desperation.
It all started around 1:00 p.m., when the procession entered Mestre Palau street in this town in the south of the metropolitan area of Valencia. A mob pounced on them, throwing mud at them shouting “murderers”. The bodyguards created a cordon around the monarchs
to protect them and they opened their umbrellas to avoid the rain of mud, something they could not do completely, since the Kings ended up stained. It was then, in the midst of a tumult marked by strong tension and anger, when Sánchez was evacuated and a bodyguard of the monarchs was injured with a gash in the head.
“They could have warned us and they didn’t warn us,” a neighbor collapsed before the queen, “that’s why this happened.” “Many deaths, many deaths,” he lamented,
while Doña Letizia wiped away tears. “Three days until the Army arrives, we have no clothes, we have no food, we have nothing,” two women assured the queen, to whom they expressed that they were “lying to.” Letiziavisibly overcome by the situation, confessed: “You are right”.
In another group, the president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazónwaited behind the king with a low profile and serious face listening to songs that asked for his
resignation. Then, in just a couple of minutes, the neighbors cornered the authorities, forming a circle around them and every time the king tried to continue walking forward, many tried to cut him off with shovels in their hands. “Children have died, it’s not like the pandemic
“They were old people, children!” cried a man.
At that moment, in the midst of an increasingly hostile environment, four mounted police officers arrived to separate the protesters, which
that further unleashed general nervousness due to the agitated attitude of the horses. After almost half an hour of tension and shouting, the authorities retreated towards the cars that were waiting for them a few meters behind. Mazón got into one vehicle and the queen into another. The king did the same, but after a few seconds he changed his mind and said that he wanted to speak with the
protesters, specifically with one he pointed out. Some cried uncontrollably and others insulted him.. Thus, they passed inside the cordon formed by fifty security agents and the monarch merged into a hug with some of the neighbors.
Many of the protesters agreed that the delegation of authorities had gone to Paiporta “to take a photo” and that “it was not the day” almost a week after the tragedy, when many have not yet been able to remove the mud or the mountains from belongings of its streets. Felipe VI, after listening to them patiently, repeated “I understand” or “we do what we can do”.
After the altercations in Paiporta, the visit to chivathe second affected town that the Kings had planned to address, was suspended by joint agreement of the authorities, although its City Council received the “commitment” of the Kings that They will visit the town “soon”. The monarchs presided, together with Sánchez and Mazón, at the Cecopi meeting at the Generalitat’s Emergency Coordination Center in l’Eliana (Valencia), where they were informed of the rescue, debris removal and care efforts for the victims, as well as the declaration of red level due to heavy rain this Sunday afternoon on the southern coast of the province.
The king, in a brief speech of thanks to the center’s workers, said that We must understand “the anger and frustration” of many
people, because of “how bad they have had it” and because of the difficulty of understanding how the mechanisms to deal with emergencies work. “We must give them hope, address the emergency, but also guarantee them that the State, in all its fullness, is present,” stressed the monarch, who was convinced that the situation “will get better every day.” “Thank you for the effort. I know these are exhausting days,
that there are no hours, there are no minutes and there is a lot of need
to attend to. Cheer up, go ahead,” he concluded.
For his part, the President of the Government rejected “any
type of violence.” “We are not going to deviate despite what may happen to some absolutely marginal violent people”stated Pedro Sánchez, because the citizens of Valencia and Spain, he said, want to “look forward, move their lives forward with an enormous gesture of responsibility and solidarity.” For its part, Mazón said he understood the “social indignation” and added: “Of course, I will stay to receive it.”. It is my political and moral obligation”, and defined the attitude of the head of state as “exemplary”.
From the opposition, the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóothanked the monarchs for “always being at the service of the Spanish people” and agreed
describe his behavior as “exemplary.” Investiture partners of the Government such as Podemos see citizen anger as “normal” for “organizing official visits” while aid “does not arrive”, in the words of
Ione Belarra. While the leader of Junts, Carles Puigdemontwrote on networks: “Muddy up to the Crown, they will march with their tails between their legs.”
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