Paiporta residents vent their anger
King Felipe VI and Queen Leticia with the president of the Valencian Community, Carlos Mazón, endure insults and mud throwing from a group of inhabitants of Paiporta while the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, flees from the retinue.
- Need for general mobilization
- A lot of accumulated tension
- Understanding by the King
- Disastrous management by the Sánchez Government
Five days after suffering the worst natural disaster in the recent history of Spain, having been left with nothing and receiving no help, a group of citizens from the Valencian town of Paiporta, one of the most damaged by the dana, took the opportunity to vent their anger and frustrations against the authorities of the State.
AFP/MANAURE QUINTERO
Meanwhile, thousands of people from Valencia capital and other parts of the community and the rest of Spain have defied the restriction of mobility in the affected areas and have come with everything they could carry on their backs to help the victims in the different towns.
They have brought, one more day, food, medicines, brooms and other utensils to collaborate in the work of cleaning houses and streets and have demonstrated their willingness to continue to defy the orders of restriction of movement because there are thousands of people who need their help.
Need for general mobilization
Civil Protection experts have highlighted the problem caused these days by the lack of organization of a competent command because the displaced members of the UME and the emergency organizations were not able to cope and did not have enough means to face the enormous dimension of the catastrophe.
The situation has changed in the last hours after the mobilization of the corresponding army units with heavy material, cranes and excavators and other essential tools and vehicles to advance in the work of helping the affected neighbors.
For the moment, 217 people have lost their lives while several hundred are still unaccounted for. The material losses in houses, stores, roads, railways and other places in general are extremely high.
Los Reyes, durante su visita a Paiporta (Valencia) esta mañana. pic.twitter.com/0OpPm9pAp0
— Casa de S.M. el Rey (@CasaReal) November 3, 2024
A lot of accumulated tension
In the many images circulating on television and on the Internet, it can be seen that the presence of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, was the first occasion on which the neighbors, prepared to show their enormous discomfort at the central government's nefarious management of the catastrophe and the errors of the regional government, hurled mud and insults.
At that moment, Pedro Sánchez left the procession after receiving the impact of a stick in the back and suffering the worst insults from the demonstrators.
AFP/MANAURE QUINTERO
The tension that arose around King Felipe VI, always accompanied by the Valencian president, Carlos Mazón, and Queen Leticia was increasing until the King went towards the demonstrators, listened to them, discussed with them what was happening and asked them not to believe everything that is published because there is a lot of intoxication and people who want to provoke chaos.
🔴En esta pieza de Matías Prats se pueden ver en rótulos algunos diálogos del Rey con la gente: “No hagáis caso a todo lo que se publica, porque hay mucha intoxicación informativa y mucha gente interesada en esto, para que haya caos”. 👇👇 pic.twitter.com/mTlUjkdBcU
— José Carlos Villanueva (@JC_Villanueva) November 3, 2024
Felipe VI insisted that the institutions will respond to help them and showed his support and solidarity. Also Queen Letizia has talked with neighbors and as the king has embraced them to comfort them. The two had traces of the mud that had fallen on them, despite the protection with umbrellas of the security services.
It should be noted the action of several young people with backpacks throwing mud balls with force to hurt, as opposed to those who threw mud to protest, but without the intention of hurting the authorities.
AFP/MANAURE QUINTERO
Understanding by the King
The King has shown his understanding for the “anger” and “frustration” that many people affected by the DANA have expressed during his speech after chairing a meeting at the CECOPI (Integrated Operational Coordination Center) of the Valencian Community.
“It is necessary to understand the anger and frustration of many people for the bad time they have had, for the difficulty of understanding how the mechanisms work to deal with the emergency,” he said.
He also expressed his gratitude to the military personnel who are working “representing all Spaniards and attending to this monumental disaster that affects so many lives and so many worlds,” he said.
“To these people (those affected) we must give them hope, attend to the emergency, but also guarantee them that the State in all its fullness is present,” stressed the monarch, who has also expressed his conviction that the situation ‘every day will get better’.
Intervención del Rey en la reunión del Centro de Coordinación Operativa Integrado (CECOPI) de la Comunidad Valenciana.
— Casa de S.M. el Rey (@CasaReal) November 3, 2024
➡️https://t.co/C9v6fDOEX9 pic.twitter.com/3Ej1ZGC7Nm
In this regard, he pointed out that it is “important” that people perceive what they are doing, reiterating that “the mechanisms of the State at different levels are working”.
Finally, he thanked the “enormous contribution” of all the people who are working in the field attending to the needs that are demanded.
Precisely today in several streets of Paiporta and other towns affected by the tragedy have worked army units to unblock the entrances to houses, shops, garages and have been able to extract enough water to allow specialist divers have entered the two large parking lots of shopping centers in the area.
Mirad el minuto 00:24
— Lucia Etxebarria (@LaEtxebarria) November 3, 2024
El escolta de la reina sangrando con la camisa roja de sangre, y ella resiste ahí, sabiendo que la próxima pedrada puede ser para ella. Seáis monárquicos o no, esta mujer tiene un par de ovarios. pic.twitter.com/rPOiDO5Pqg
Disastrous management by the Sánchez Government
In five days, the inefficiency and negligence of the central government of Pedro Sanchez has been demonstrated, which has avoided from the first moment to declare the alert 3 that would put the responsibility of the management in his hands and maintains the level 2 that grants the capacity of management to the autonomic government.
Meanwhile, it has been inexplicable and outrageous that the corresponding army units were not mobilized as has been done on other occasions in these cases and in international missions in other countries.
The pathetic declarations of the political leaders blaming the adversary for the problems of the lack of correct decisions to face the tragedy from the first day have had a violent response from a group of desperate neighbors who have taken advantage of the presence of the kings to show their desperation.
Meanwhile, Morocco confirms two fellow citizens killed by the DANA in Valencia. The Consul General of Morocco in Valencia, Said Idrissi, has confirmed this Sunday the death of two Moroccan citizens due to the DANA that has caused severe flooding in Valencia. The search for the missing people continues.
