Hundreds of residents of a Valencia suburb particularly badly hit by last week's deadly floods protested on Sunday during a visit by Spanish King Felipe and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, with some throwing mud at them.
Chanting "Murderers, murderers!" they vented pent-up anger over what has been widely perceived by local residents as tardy alerts from the authorities about the dangers of Tuesday's storm and flooding in the Valencia region, and then a late response by the emergency services when disaster struck.
"It was known and nobody did anything to avoid it," a young man told the king, who insisted on staying on to talk to the people despite the turmoil, while the prime minister had withdrawn.
At one point in the visit to the stricken suburb of Paiporta Felipe held a man who was crying on his shoulder.
The central government has said issuing alerts to the population is the responsibility of regional authorities. The Valencia authorities have said they acted as best as they could with the information available to them.
Sanchez said on Saturday that any potential negligence would be investigated later.
The death toll from the country's worst flash floods in modern history edged higher to 217 on Sunday - almost all in the Valencia region and over 60 of them in Paiporta alone. Dozens of people were still unaccounted for, while some 3,000 households still had no electricity, officials said.
Thousands of additional troops and police joined the disaster relief effort over the weekend in the largest such peacetime operation in Spain.
The floods engulfed streets and lower floors of buildings, and swept away cars and bits of masonry in tides of mud.
The tragedy is already Europe's worst flood-related disaster in a single country since 1967 when at least some 500 people died in Portugal.
Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent in Europe, and elsewhere, due to climate change. Meteorologists think the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rains more severe.
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday ending the U.S. sanctions programme on Syria, the White House confirmed....
President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Monday formally ending U.S. sanctions on Syria, in a major foreign policy reversal th...
Türkiye will host the 2026 NATO leaders summit in Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Monday, saying the country is preparing the gro...
Two Azerbaijani brothers killed in a Russian security raid in Yekaterinburg are being returned home, sparking outrage and urgent calls for justice ami...
After a brief stint at Aston Villa, Marcus Rashford is heading back to Manchester United as the club opts against triggering his £40 million buy clau...
Protesters braved extreme heat in Seville on Sunday to call for debt relief, fairer taxation, and climate action on the eve of a major United Nations summit on global development.
Spain has refused to endorse a proposed NATO target requiring member states to spend 5% of their GDP on defense, risking friction ahead of next week’s alliance summit in The Hague.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares has urged the European Union to impose an arms embargo on Israel during the ongoing war in Gaza and called for renewed talks on Iran’s nuclear program.
Thousands gathered in Barcelona and other Spanish cities to protest against the impact of mass tourism, accusing it of driving up housing costs and displacing residents.
The U.S. economy faces a 40% risk of recession in the second half of 2025, JP Morgan analysts said on Wednesday, citing rising tariffs and stagflation concerns.
China has ramped up efforts to protect communities impacted by flood control measures, introducing stronger compensation policies and direct aid from the central government.
Severe rain in Venezuela has caused rivers to overflow and triggered landslides, sweeping away homes and collapsing a highway bridge, with five states affected and no casualties reported so far.
A malfunction in the radar transmission system at the Area Control Center in Milan suspended more than 300 flights at the weekend, across northwest Italy since Saturday evening according to Italy's air traffic controller Enav (National Agency for Flight Assistance).
Thousands of protesters rallied in Bangkok on Saturday, demanding Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra resign as political and economic tensions mount.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday approved the disbursement of an additional $500 million to Ukraine, following the completion of its eighth review under the country’s $15.5 billion Extended Fund Facility.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday publicly criticized AT&T for technical issues that disrupted a national conference call with faith leaders, urging the company’s leadership to address the situation and suggesting his administration may turn to a different carrier in future communications.
France, Spain, Kenya, and several other nations announced on Monday a joint pledge to tax premium-class airline passengers and private jet users, in a move aimed at raising billions of dollars for climate action and sustainable development.
An oil tanker carrying one million barrels of crude oil exploded near the Libyan coast, Bloomberg reported on 30 June.
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday ending the U.S. sanctions programme on Syria, the White House confirmed.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment