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Royal couple and Spanish prime minister pelted with mud during visit to flood-hit areas of country
Spain's king, queen and prime minister were caught in mud while visiting a flood-hit area.
Locals shouted at the royal couple: "Murderers! Get out of town! Get out of town!" They pelted her and the prime minister with mud and sticks. Floods hit the Valencia region on Tuesday, killing more than 200 people, and relief efforts began on Friday.
The Spanish royal couple and Prime Minister Sanchez were drenched in mud by floods while visiting Valencia. In the town of Paiportu, locals first criticized Felipe VI's kilometer-long motorcade, then began throwing mud and rubbish at the royal entourage. Guards covered the king with an umbrella, Queen Letizia was hit with a clod of earth, and the prime minister was hit with a thrown stick. At this point, people shouted: "Murderer! Get out of town!
The Spanish prime minister left the country almost immediately. The royal family behaved more honorably than the elected leaders. Felipe VI tried to calm the crowd. He said he understood the situation the people were in and that he and the queen were "with the people."
Valencian blogger Sergei Timokhin comments on the reaction of local residents to the royal couple's visit:
Earlier this week, flooding in Spain left 211 people dead and more than 2,000 missing.
A dam built during the Roman Empire prevented widespread destruction in a municipality in the northeastern Spanish province of Zaragoza. The dam, built in the late 1st century AD, was effective in containing and dispersing powerful torrents of water, according to media reports.