By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
VALENCIA (Worthy News) – Armed with mops, buckets, and brooms, thousands of volunteers have been trying to help rescuers deal with Spain’s deadliest flooding in decades that killed at least 217 people amid mounting anger over the government’s response.
On Monday, in the muddy, debris-filled streets of Valencia, civil and military personnel searched shopping centers, garages, and underground car parks in the hope of finding survivors.
They arrived hours after shouts of “murderer” and “shame” were directed at the royal couple as they walked through the town of Paiporta – one of the hardest-hit areas where over 60 people perished and thousands of lives were shattered.
Spain’s King Felipe VI and his wife, Queen Letizia, were pelted with mud by a crowd of enraged survivors who expressed anger about the time it took for high-level officials to visit the scene.
They are angry that there were no early warnings and fear that compensation will not arrive soon in a nation that still receives billions in European Union aid to make economic progress.
Security forces struggled to maintain a protective ring around the monarch as some protesters threw mud and objects. The king engaged with several, even embracing them.
Images showed mud on the faces and clothes of the king, the tearful Queen Letizia, and their entourage, who held umbrellas over the monarch as they departed.
PRIME MINISTER EVACUATED
Witnesses said Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was evacuated from the scene because objects were directed at him.
After he left, the crowd chanted: “Where is Sánchez?” “I’m just 16,” one boy, Pau, told reporters through tears. “We’re helping – and the leaders do nothing. People are still dying. I can’t stand this anymore.”
Another woman said: “They left us to die. We’ve lost everything: our businesses, our homes, our dreams.”
The king said he understood the frustration, but that did little to ease tensions as it was up to the people to rebuild their broken lives.
Yet, there was little time to think about the future as troops and amber weather warnings were in place for parts of Valencia and neighboring Catalonia on Monday, with people in the affected areas advised to stay off the roads and keep away from the coast and rivers.
Heavy rain pounded the Barcelona area on Monday morning, leading the regional government to issue civil protection alerts and cancel all local train services.
Authorities said more than 50 flights to take off from El Prat airport were canceled or severely delayed.
TORRENTIAL RAINS
The floods were caused by intense torrential rains that climate-change-fearing experts quickly linked to what they view as human-caused global warming.
Others pointed out that Valencia was also hit by a massive flood on October 24, 1957, well before climate change became a central issue in mainstream media.
That tragedy resulted in significant damage to property and caused the deaths of at least 81 people.
In response to the tragedy, the Spanish government devised and enacted the Plan Sur, which rerouted the city’s main river, the Turia.
Yet decades later, growing urbanization and the apparent lack of adequate water management were also believed to have contributed to the high death toll.
Rescuers did not give up on finding survivors. On Sunday, they managed to enter the underground car park of the massive Bonaire shopping complex in the Valencian town of Aldaia.
Using a small boat and flashlights, police searched the lot’s 1,800 parking spaces, telling reporters that so far, about 50 vehicles had been found and no bodies had been discovered.
HOPEFUL SIGNS
In the misery, there were also signs of a miracle.
Emergency personnel heard noise from a car among the scores swept up in Spain’s deadly floods, tossed about by the mud-colored waters that surged onto the streets.
But after 72 hours spent trapped in an underpass, a woman was hailed as one of the lucky ones.
After hours spent clearing out the vehicles and debris that clogged their path, rescuers were able to free her after she screamed, “Doctor! doctor!”
She was treated at the site before being sent to hospital.
Spanish media described her rescue as a “miracle,” a ray of hope amid an increasingly desolate panorama that has prompted church leaders to call for prayers.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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