Written by 
Furious locals pelted Spain’s king, queen and prime minister on Sunday with mud and cries of “murderers!”, forcing them to cut short a visit to the town worst hit by floods which have killed more than 200.
As a new storm headed for the region, an angry crowd in the town of Paiporta focused its wrath on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the head of the Valencia region, both of whom were whisked away by security.
Mud hit King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia in the face and clothes as they tried to calm the angry crowd five days after the floods hit.
The extraordinary scenes underscored the depth of anger over the response to Spain’s worst disaster in decades, with the toll now at 217 dead and hopes fading for finding survivors.
The king and queen arrived went to a crisis centre in Paiporta, ground zero for a disaster Sanchez called the second deadliest flood in Europe this century.
But extra security guards were soon called to stand between the royals and the angry crowd, whose ire seemed most directed at Sanchez and Valencia regional governmet head Carlos Mazon.
“I understand the social anger and of course, I’m here to receive it. This is my political and moral obligation,” Mazon said in a post on X, while calling the king’s conduct “exemplary”.
The king and queen spent an hour trying to calm tempers before leaving. Sanchez and the local politicians quickly left, but not before the rear window of the premier’s vehicle was broken.
Sanchez later said while he empathised with the “anguish and suffering” of the victims, he condemned “all forms of violence”.
Nearly all the deaths have been in the Valencia region, where Spain’s meteorological agency on Sunday evening issued a “red alert” for new storms in the region.
Police using megaphones urged residents in Valencia city and the surrounding region to return home as the first drops began to fall, according to an AFP journalist. The the AEMEt weather agency forecast “high intensity” storms bringing up to nine centimetres (3.5 inches) of rainfall in one hour.
It had earlier predicted torrential rain that may cause flooding in the southern province of Almeria, advising residents not to travel unless ย necessary.
– ‘Towns buried by mud’ –
Since Tuesday’s torrent of rain and mud swept away vehicles and devastated towns and infrastructure, thousands of emergency responders have frantically cleared debris in the search for bodies.
Authorities have come under fire over warnings made before the floods, while stricken residents say the disaster response has been too slow.
Mazon has faced fierce criticism for waiting too long to issue a phone alert in Valencia.
“I am aware the response is not enough, there are problems and severe shortages … towns buried by mud, desperate people searching for their relatives … we have to improve,” Sanchez said.
With an extra 10,000 troops, police and civil guards sent to the Valencia region, Spain has ordered its largest peacetime military and security force deployment, Sanchez said.
“Thank you to the people who have come to help us, to all of them, because from the authorities: nothing,” a furious Estrella Caceres, 66, told AFP in the town of Sedavi.
In Chiva, Danna Daniella said she had been cleaning her restaurant for three days straight.
She said sheย was still haunted by memories of the people trapped by the raging floodwaters “asking for help and there was nothing we could do”.
“It drives you crazy. You look for answers and you don’t find them.”
– Volunteers out in droves –
Transport Minister Oscar Puente told El Pais daily that certain places would probably remain inaccessible by land for weeks.
Volunteers with food, water and cleaning equipment have continued ย to assist the recovery, although authorities have urged people to stay at home to avoid congestion.
On Sunday, the Valencia government limited the number of volunteers authorised to travel to the city’s southern suburbs to 2,000 and restricted access to 12 localities.
Despite this thousands made their way to stricken communes on foot, carrying brooms and shovels.
At the Vatican, Pope Francis offered his prayers to those hit by the disaster “who are suffering so much these days”.
The storm that sparked the floods on Tuesday formed as cold air moved over the warm waters of the Mediterranean and is common for this time of year.
But scientists warn climate change driven by human activity is increasing the ferocity, length and frequency of such extreme weather events.
Emergency services on Sunday listed 213 dead in the Valencia region, one in Andalusia in the south and three in Castilla-La Mancha neighbouring Valencia, where the body of a woman in her 60s was discovered on Sunday.
Authorities have warned the toll could rise as vehicles trapped in tunnels and underground car parks are cleared.
bur-imm/rsc/sbk/giv/tw