Mud & Insults hurled at King of Spain

[PrettyFlyforaMaiTai]

Angry survivors and protesters hurled mud and insults at King Felipe as he visited one of the worst towns affected by the floods

news.sky.com/story/angry-crowds-hurl-mud-and-insults-at-king-of-spain-as-he-visits-town-devastated-by-floods-13247483

"It must have been terrifying for them".

I'd argue that it was not quite as terrifying as being trapped in your car with your kids and dying because the government didn't warn you of the severity of the flooding in your area.

This ^

@HarkALark has it.

The government has behaved very badly in a number of ways- alerts were too late, help afterwards was too late, and now the layers of government etc are all blaming each other like children.

I agree

I am against monarchies in general but how is any of what happened the king's fault? People might be in shock but how does assaulting someone help? It's just dumb.

Yes I'm not sure what these visits achieve. I remember puzzling when Wills and Kate visited the victims of the Southport attack - how does it help? However if they hadn't visited people would have criticised them for not visiting.

A poster upthread says that the protest might have been highjacked by political activists. I hope that's not the case, that would be really low.

I find that unacceptable and totally unnecessary. I would never be able to live in Spain. After seen how irrational they can get is a hard pass for me.

But you're ok with the rioting we endured here in England? Bizarre

Grieving, upset people who have lost friends, relations, neighbours, businesses and their homes ....venting their anger that they weren't warned...and that means you've written the country off...

Well I am leaving England. This is a terrible place to live and getting worse. Spain is a hard pass for me too. However, their quality of life is much better.

What is bizarre is attacking people or the Royals due to nature or natural disasters. Here, at least the violence is a consequence of the government negligence on crime and mental health crisis and they clearly must be held accountable. ( hopefully without throwing stuff at them) As for the culture in Spain I have seen enough while travelling extensively there. They are prone to this kind of irrational behaviour so hence my comment.

"What is bizarre is attacking people or the Royals due to nature or natural disasters."

I think what they're probably attacking is privilege. Let's face it, the rich aren't going to bear the brunt of the climate crisis. They can turn up for an hour, do professional sad face at the scene of the latest tragedy, and then go home to their palaces.

No offence to you, but I probably know Spain better than you, not just travelling but owning a home there for two decades, so it will be no surprise to you that I don't agree with your post.

I hope you find happiness in whatever country you choose to live in that isn't England or Spain

I don't know anything about the situation there locally but if there has been ongoing problems with regards to local infrastructure and poor planning then I can't blame people for being very very angry.

Thank you! Oh I do not take offence and hope you do not either. I know there are plenty of happy people living there and here. Just not for me or my family.

About rich and privileged. Would it be the same if it is Taylor Swift going there? Does it fit the narrative? I heard she is a serious polluter with her excessive private jet trips and also a billionaire?

@dottiehens If they'd specifically cleared an area just to enable her visit and she'd rocked up to view the scene then fucked off home again? Absofuckinglutely.

Listen, you'd clearly get some benefit from being waved at by a royal in one of the bleakest times of your life but I'm on the side of the Valencians. They were lucky it was just mud.

Spaniard here. The main issue is that the emergency response was delayed due to politicians not being able to decide who had to take the lead - the regional or the central government (which are different political parties in this case). This is by law a job for the regional government but they pushed it to be able to blame the central government - although some Spaniards will surely tell you otherwise. People are angry towards the authorities, represented by the King, because their incompetence has costed many lives. There’s also the involvement of right wing groups trying to capitalise on this anger on top of it.
Yes there are floods in that area every year, which everyone is prepared for, but never at this scale - this is unprecedented and very much linked to climate change.