Spain's king, queen, prime minister and an official from the province of Valencia have given up further visits to the flooded areas after being met with mud, stones and insults in the town of Paiporta.
Floods in Spain have killed at least 217 people and hundreds are still being sought after torrential rain lashed the country's southeast on Tuesday, causing flash floods.
King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and regional official Carlos Mazon came to express solidarity with the stricken residents on Sunday, but visited only one place. After a hostile reception in Paiporta, where torrential rains claimed 62 lives, the official protection protocol was activated, ending their tour, Hina agency reports.
Instead of going to the next affected town, Čivu, where 16.750 people live, they went to the crisis headquarters in the city of Valencia.
The city itself remained intact in the storm, and the crisis headquarters with the highest officials is guarded by the police. Protesters gathered in front of the building.
From there, Sánchez briefly addressed the public, saying that "he will not deviate from the goal, regardless of secondary moments of violence."
"The main goal is to save lives, find the bodies of those who may have perished in this natural disaster and rebuild the destroyed areas," said the Prime Minister before leaving the headquarters by car.
In Paiporta, seven kilometers from the city of Valencia, protesters threw mud and stones at the prime minister's car. Some ran and kicked the vehicle. The Prime Minister's Office announced that Sanchez and other officials are "well".
Regional official Mazon said he "understands the indignation of the society".
The residents of Čiva were waiting for the state leader, and when they found out that he would not come, they whistled. "Cowards" and "a united nation will never be defeated", shouted the crowd.
Some residents of the wider province of Valencia feel left out and believe they were warned too late about the deadly storm. They claim that the state services were late in helping the victims.
The citizens of Paiporta threw mud and stones at the king and the prime minister, cursing them with cries of "murderer, murderer". Security guards protected them from thrown objects with open umbrellas, and a police cordon separated them from angry citizens.
It was an unprecedented attack on the royal couple since they came to the throne in 2014. Despite this, King and Queen Letizia tried to talk to desperate citizens, continuing to walk the muddy streets of Paiporta.
"We have lost everything", "this is like a war", "notification is late", the citizens said to the royal couple. One tearful elderly woman hugged the queen, according to a clip from the public television station TVE.
The meteorological service AEMET announced that rain could fall again in the province of Valencia, for which it issued the highest "red warning". And yet, they estimate that it could fall about 90 liters per square meter in an hour, drastically less compared to Tuesday evening when in some places more than 400 liters fell in an hour per square meter.
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