A furious crowd chanted “murderer” and tossed mud at King Felipe as he visited the areas worst affected by Spain’s worst ever flood-related disaster.
Footage shows the moment the King was surrounded by angry locals who are still reeling as the death toll from the floods reaches 217 - and is likely to continue climbing.
Police officers on horseback had to keep back the crowd of several dozen.
The King and his wife, Queen Letizia, visited Valencia on Sunday with prime minister Pedro Sanchez. They met local officials, emergency responders and civilians.
Thousands of troops have been mobilised in what Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez called the “biggest operation by the Armed Forces in Spain in peacetime”.
It comes as fears grow that large numbers of bodies remain trapped underwater - including in the entirely submerged underground car park of Bonaire shopping centre, one of the largest in Spain.
Specialist scuba divers are now searching for bodies in the car park.
Eduardo Martinez, who works in the shopping centre, told ElDiario.es that some “ignored” advice from a security guard not to collect their cars from an underground car park when the flooding began.
Key points
- Furious crowd shouts ‘murderer’ at King Felipe
- Fears of many dead in submerged underground car park
- King Felipe, Queen Letizia and Spanish PM arrive in Valencia
- Reminder: What happened on Tuesday and Wednesday?
- Fresh weather warnings for rain and hail in Valencia
Pictured: Protestors slings mud at King Felipe
13:51
Alex Croft
A protestor slung a piece of mud at King Felipe amid major protests in the Paiporta region of Valencia - where 60 of the 217 flood victims died.
The mud was intercepted by one of King Felipe’s security team.
King embraces man ‘crying on his shoulder'
13:40
Alex Croft
Pictures have emerged of King Felipe embracing a man, who was reportedly crying on his shoulder.
The King was surrounded by hundreds of protestors angry at the slow warning and response to Tuesday and Wednesday’s devastating flooding.
‘Nobody did anything to avoid it’, King Felipe told by protestor
13:31
Alex Croft
Hundreds of people joined protests as King Felipe and prime mininster Pedro Sanchez visited the affected areas of the floods.
Local residents believe alerts from the authorities about the dangers of Tuesday’s storm and the possible flooding were slow. They are also angry about a perceived late response by the emergency services after the disaster.
“It was known and nobody did anything to avoid it,” one young man told the King.
Furious crowd shouts ‘murderer’ at King Felipe
13:04
Alex Croft
King Felipe of Spain has been met with chants of “murderer” as he visits the devastated areas of Valencia.
The King and his wife, Queen Letizia, visited Valencia with prime minister Pedro Sanchez, where they met local officials, emergency responders and civilians.
But dramatic footage now shows a furious crowd surrounding the King, shouting “murderer” in Spanish as the community reels from the devastating floods.
Some have accused the Spanish government of a slow response to the flooding.
Fears of many dead in submerged underground car park
12:38
Alex Croft
Specialist divers have entered the underground car park of Bonaire shopping centre, where it is feared some were trapped while trying to leave with their vehicles.
Authorities are also pumping water out of the car park in a process which could take days, Sky News reported.
Eduardo Martinez works in the shopping centre, which is one of Spain’s largest. He decided to leave his vehicle in the car park after he found himself in waist high water when he tried to drive home.
Mr Martinez instead chose to spend the night in a top-floor cinema, he told ElDiario.es.
But he said that many people “ignored” advice from a security guard not to collect their cars from an underground car park when the flooding began.
"No-one knows for sure how many people there might still be down there,” he added.
King Felipe, Queen Letizia and Spanish PM arrive in Valencia
12:05
Alex Croft
King Felipe VI of Spain has arrived in Valencia to visit the areas devastated by Spain’s worst flooding in modern history.
He has been joined by Queen Letizia and Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez as they meet survivors, rescue workers and local officials.
Reminder: What happened on Tuesday and Wednesday?
11:33
Alex Croft
Torrential rain on Tuesday catalysed the most catastrophic flooding Spain has seen in its modern history.
Flash floods struck eastern Spain in a matter of just minutes on Tuesday evening, with residents trapped in cars and homes after having no time to react.
It began when storms concentrated over the Magro and Turia river basins, and in the Poyo riverbed, causing huge walls of water to overflow the riverbanks.
Within just minutes, roads, railways, houses, businesses and cars were flooded by gushing, muddy flood water in the towns and villages on the southern outskirts of Valencia city.
People were caught unaware by the sudden flooding which has turned their livelihoods upside down.
The national weather service of Spain said that in the locality of Chiva it rained more in eight hours than it had in the 20 months previous. Some areas on the outskirts of Valencia city were swept up in the flooding before it even rained.
Authorities sent out alerts to mobile phones to warn people to stay at home due to the severity of the flooding. But many were working or on the road at the time.
The entirety of Spain was left reeling, before a major clean-up and rescue operation got underway from Wednesday onwards. The government has brought in 7,500 soldiers and 5,000 extra police officers to lead the response.
The death toll now lies at 214.
In pictures: Firefighters dig out car wreckage in search for victims
11:01
Alex Croft
Watch: Thousands of volunteers gather to assist rescue efforts
10:30
Alex Croft
Prime minister to visit affected areas with King and Queen of Spain
10:01
Alex Croft
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez has met with Spain’s crisis committee as the mammoth rescue and clean-up operation continues in the eastern Valencia region.
He will later meet with the King and the Queen to visit the affected regions.
The official government account wrote on X: “The President of the Government, @sanchezcastejon, chaired this morning the Crisis Committee to monitor the effects of the DANA in La Moncloa.
“He will then accompany Their Majesties the King and Queen on their visit to the affected areas in the Valencian Community.”
El presidente del Gobierno, @sanchezcastejon, ha presidido esta mañana el Comité de crisis para el seguimiento de los efectos de la DANA en La Moncloa.
— La Moncloa (@desdelamoncloa) November 3, 2024
Posteriormente, acompañará a Sus Majestades los Reyes en su visita a las zonas afectadas en la Comunitat Valenciana. pic.twitter.com/lOHa0VbGjk
Fresh weather warnings for rain and hail in Valencia
09:29
Tara Cobham
Fresh weather warnings for rain, hail and storms have been issued by the Spanish government.
The hardest-hit region of Valencia is among the southern and eastern regions where Aemet, the country’s meteorological agency, has implemented an orange alert for a “significant risk” of rains and storms, which might also bring hail, between 9am and midnight on Sunday.
Castellón is among the areas facing a yellow weather warning, which means there is a “risk” of rains, storms and hail.
Watch: Rescuers wade through building’s chest-high water in search for missing
09:07
Tara Cobham
Spain mounts biggest peacetime disaster recovery operation as death toll reaches 214
08:07
Tara Cobham
The deadliest flash floods in Spain's modern history have killed at least 214 people and dozens were still unaccounted for, four days after torrential rains swept the eastern region of Valencia, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday.
In a televised statement, Sanchez said the government was sending 5,000 more army troops to help with the searches and clean-up in addition to 2,500 soldiers already deployed.
"It is the biggest operation by the Armed Forces in Spain in peacetime," Sanchez said. "The government is going to mobilize all the resources necessary as long as they are needed."
Valencian regional authorities said on Saturday night the total number of fatalities in the region was 211, plus two from Castilla La Mancha and one in Andalusia.
Why were Spain’s ‘catastrophic’ floods so deadly? Everything we know as images reveal devastation
07:00
Holly Evans
At least 202 people are dead after Spain was struck by the worst floods in recent memory that submerged towns, toppled bridges and cut entire communities off from the outside world.
The deadly floods left cars piled up like toys in streets, swallowed homes, and covered entire neighbourhoods in sludge and debris.
Muddy rivers swept away everything in their path – roads, houses and key infrastructure.
Thousands of people are still facing power and water cuts and shortages of basic goods, especially in the eastern region, the worst affected.
Read the full article here:
Osasuna dedicates soccer win to its coach and to victims floods
06:30
Shweta Sharma
After scoring Osasuna‘s winning goal, Ante Budimir showed fans a jersey with the words “Be strong Valencia.”
He and his teammates dedicated Osasuna’s 1-0 win over Valladolid in the Spanish league on Saturday to the victims of the deadly floods that hit the Valencia region this week, and especially to Osasuna coach Vicente Moreno, who is from the area and a day earlier gave an emotional interview during his news conference.
Moreno is from Massanassa, one of the cities affected the most by the floods that killed more than 200 people in southern Spain. He cried while talking about this week’s tragedy and those affected by it. The coach was not on the bench during Saturday’s match because of a suspension.
Read the full story: Spain deploys 5,000 more soldiers as death toll rises
06:00
Holly Evans
Two Chinese killed and two more missing in Spain’s flood
05:30
Shweta Sharma
The Chinese embassy in Spain confirmed its two nationals were killed and two are missing in Spain after flash floods tore through the towns in the country.
They were among the 214 people who have been confirmed death so far with more bodies expected to be found as the rescue operation continued.
The tragedy is already Europe’s worst flood-related disaster since 1967 when at least 500 people died in Portugal.
A British citizen has also died in the tragedy. The 71-year-old who has not been named died hours after he was rescued from his home on the outskirts of Málaga, Spain.
‘Where is the aid? My town is a cemetery’
05:00
Holly Evans
More than 200 people have been killed in Spain as the army joined rescue efforts on Friday in the aftermath of the worst flash floods to hit the country in decades, leaving victims in the ravaged region begging for aid.
Dani Sorní, a 22-year-old resident of Paiporta, the epicentre of the disaster, described the grave conditions. “This town is a cemetery, with bodies trapped under a metre-and-a-half of mud and under cars,” he told The Independent.
With the final death toll feared to be 400, survivors described a “tsunami” of water trapping victims in their cars and their fury over poor planning and slow response by authorities.
Read the full article here:
Death toll mounts to 214 after two more bodies found
04:30
Shweta Sharma
The death toll has soared to at least 214 deaths and dozens still remain unaccounted for, four days after torrential rains swept the eastern region of Valencia.
Valencian regional authorities said on Saturday night the total number of fatalities in the region was 211, plus two from Castilla La Mancha and one in Andalusia.
Prime minister Pedro Sanchez said the government was sending 5,000 more army troops to help with the searches and clean-up in addition to 2,500 soldiers already deployed.
“It is the biggest operation by the Armed Forces in Spain in peacetime,” Mr Sanchez said. “The government is going to mobilize all the resources necessary as long as they are needed.”
Driver clings to car roof as water surges through roads
04:00
Holly Evans
Why did these massive flash floods happen?
03:00
Holly Evans
Scientists trying to explain what happened see two likely connections to human-caused climate change.
One is that warmer air holds and then dumps more rain. The other is possible changes in the jet stream - the river of air above land that moves weather systems across the globe - that spawn extreme weather.
Climate scientists and meteorologists said the immediate cause of the flooding is called a cut-off lower pressure storm system that migrated from an unusually wavy and stalled jet stream. That system simply parked over the region and poured rain.
This happens often enough that in Spain they call them Danas, the Spanish acronym for the system, meteorologists said.
Then there is the unusually high temperature of the Mediterranean Sea. It had its warmest surface temperature on record in mid-August, at 28.47C, said Carola Koenig of the Centre for Flood Risk and Resilience at Brunel University of London.
The extreme weather event came after Spain battled with prolonged droughts in 2022 and 2023. Experts say that drought and flood cycles are increasing with climate change.
Where are weather alerts in force as death toll hits 207?
02:00
Holly Evans
Weather warnings are in force across swathes of Spain as further storms approach on the heels of devastating flooding which has claimed at least 211 lives – making it the country’s worst natural disaster in living memory.
Prime minister Pedro Sanchez has warned that the devastation caused by flash flooding is “not finished” as he declared Valencia a “disaster zone” on Thursday. Urging residents to remain in their homes, he said: “Right now the most important thing is to safeguard as many lives as possible.”
Cities such as Valencia and Malaga were inundated this week after nearly a year’s worth of rain – close to half a metre – fell in just eight hours in some areas, leaving residents “trapped like rats” in homes and cars, as described by one desperate local mayor recalling the chaos.
Read the full article here:
Has this happened before?
01:00
Holly Evans
Spain’s Mediterranean coast is used to autumn storms that can cause flooding, but this episode was the most powerful flash flood event in recent memory.
Older people in Paiporta, ground zero of the tragedy, claim that Tuesday’s floods were three times as bad as those of 1957, which caused at least 81 deaths and were the worst in the history of the tourist eastern region.
That episode led to the diversion of the Turia watercourse, which meant that a large part of the city was spared of these floods.
Valencia suffered two other major Danas in the 1980s, one in 1982, with around 30 deaths, and another one five years later, which broke rainfall records.
This week’s flash floods are also Spain’s deadliest natural tragedy in living memory, surpassing the flood that swept away a campsite along the Gallego river in Biescas, in the north-east, killing 87 people in August 1996.
Expat teacher in Spain still trapped after flood waters surround town and food runs out
00:00
Holly Evans
An expat teacher living south of Valencia in Spain says he is unable to leave his town due to being “surrounded by water” following flash flooding in the region.
John Fahy, 55, who lives in a seaside town called Cullera, also reported there being no food in the supermarkets, with no new supplies expected for a while.
At least 211 people have been killed in Spain’s worst flooding disaster this century, with rescue workers searching for bodies in stranded cars and sodden buildings.
Read the full article here:
Death toll rises to 214 people
Saturday 2 November 2024 23:31
Holly Evans
The deadliest flash floods in Spain’s modern history have killed at least 214 people and dozens were still unaccounted for, four days after torrential rains swept the eastern region of Valencia.
Regional authorities said on Saturday night the total number of fatalities in the region was 211, plus two from Castilla La Mancha and one in Andalusia.
The tragedy is already Europe’s worst flood-related disaster since 1967 when at least 500 people died in Portugal.
Cars and furniture lay piled up in mud as Spain reels
Saturday 2 November 2024 23:00
Holly Evans
Is it safe to travel to Spain and should I cancel my holiday after flooding disaster?
Saturday 2 November 2024 22:30
Holly Evans
Eastern Spain has been hit with devastating flash flooding this week, the worst flooding disaster the area has experienced in decades.
Rainstorms started on Tuesday (29 October) and continued into Wednesday. In the aftermath of the floods, cars have been piled on the street surrounded by a sea of debris from damaged buildings and structures.
At least 211 people have lost their lives after the flooding swept through streets, turning walkways into rivers and trapping people in their homes and on the roofs of cars.
It is the worst flood-related catastrophe Spain has witnessed since at least 1996, when 87 people died and 180 were injured in a flash flood near Biescas in the Pyrenees.
Read the full article here:
What has the state response been?
Saturday 2 November 2024 21:30
Holly Evans
The management of the crisis, classified as level two on a scale of three by the Valencian government, is in the hands of the regional authorities, who can ask the central government for help in mobilising resources.
At the request of Valencia’s president, Carlos Mazon, of the conservative Popular Party, socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Saturday the deployment of 5,000 more soldiers who will join rescue efforts, clear debris and provide water and food over the weekend.
The government will also send 5,000 more national police officers to the region, Mr Sanchez said.
At present there are some 2,000 soldiers from the military emergency unit, the army’s first intervention force for natural disasters and humanitarian crises, involved in the emergency work, as well as almost 2,500 Civil Guard gendarmes - who have carried out 4,500 rescues during the floods - and 1,800 national police officers.
When many of those affected said they felt abandoned by the authorities, a wave of volunteers took to the streets to help.
Children’s daycare owner says they have lost ‘everything’
Saturday 2 November 2024 21:12
Holly Evans
A children’s daycare was ruined when a crushing wall of water swept through Paiporta, turning the Valencia municipality of 30,000 into the likely epicenter of Spain’s deadliest natural disaster in living memory.
“We have lost everything,” Xavi Pons told The Associated Press. He said the water level was above his head inside what had been the daycare run by his wife’s family for half a century, and he pointed to the knee-high mark where the mud reached.
“I have lived here all my life. This had never happened and nobody could have imagined it would,” Pons said. “All of Paiporta is like this, it is all in ruins.”
Authorities say at least 62 people died in Paiporta, of the 211 confirmed deaths from flash floods in Spain on Tuesday and Wednesday. The majority of those deaths happened in the eastern region of Valencia, and local media have labeled Paiporta the “ground zero” of the floods.
What caused the flash floods in Spain?
Saturday 2 November 2024 20:30
Holly Evans
The storms concentrated over the Magro and Turia river basins and, in the Poyo riverbed, produced walls of water that overflowed river banks, catching people unaware as they went on with their daily lives, with many coming home from work on Tuesday evening.
In the blink of an eye, the muddy water covered roads and railways, and entered houses and businesses in villages on the southern outskirts of Valencia city.
Drivers had to take shelter on car roofs while residents tried to take refuge on higher ground.
Spain’s national weather service said that in the hard-hit locality of Chiva it rained more in eight hours than it had in the preceding 20 months, calling the deluge “extraordinary”.
When the authorities sent the alert to mobile phones warning of the seriousness of the phenomenon and asked people to stay at home, many were already on the road, working or covered in water in low-lying areas or garages, which became death traps.
Watch: ‘It’s all destroyed’: Aftermath of deadly flash floods in Spain
Saturday 2 November 2024 19:15
Joe Middleton
90 per cent of households in Valenica have power restored
Saturday 2 November 2024 19:53
Holly Evans
On Friday, the mass spontaneous arrival of volunteers complicated access for professional emergency workers to some areas, prompting authorities to devise a plan on how and where to deploy them.
Rafael Armero, 19, who was in Alfafar, a suburb of Valencia, said on Saturday: “I have been going around the town for three days helping everyone who needs it. We have a backpack full of food and water for anyone who needs it.”
More than 90 per cent of the households in Valencia had regained power on Friday, utility Iberdrola said, though thousands still lacked electricity in cut-off areas that rescuers struggled to reach.
Watch: ‘It’s all destroyed’: Aftermath of deadly flash floods in Spain
Saturday 2 November 2024 18:59
Joe Middleton
90 per cent of households in Valenica have power restored
Saturday 2 November 2024 18:28
Holly Evans
On Friday, the mass spontaneous arrival of volunteers complicated access for professional emergency workers to some areas, prompting authorities to devise a plan on how and where to deploy them.
Rafael Armero, 19, who was in Alfafar, a suburb of Valencia, said on Saturday: “I have been going around the town for three days helping everyone who needs it. We have a backpack full of food and water for anyone who needs it.”
More than 90 per cent of the households in Valencia had regained power on Friday, utility Iberdrola said, though thousands still lacked electricity in cut-off areas that rescuers struggled to reach.
Is it safe to travel to Spain and should I cancel my holiday after flooding disaster?
Saturday 2 November 2024 18:03
Amelia Neath
Eastern Spain has been hit with devastating flash flooding this week, the worst flooding disaster the area has experienced in decades.
Rainstorms started on Tuesday (29 October) and continued into Wednesday. In the aftermath of the floods, cars have been piled on the street surrounded by a sea of debris from damaged buildings and structures.
Here is the latest on the situation in Spain and what you need to know about travel.
Amelia Neath reports:
Worst of the storm over in Mallorca
Saturday 2 November 2024 17:31
Alex Croft
The worst of the storm is over in Majorca despite much of the island being hit by torrential rain on Friday night, according to local media reports.
Javier Bonet, the first deputy mayor of Majorcan capital Palma, urged locals and tourists to only leave their homes if “absolutely necessary” on Friday.
“We are not on red alert, but it is essential to warn the population to avoid greater risks,” he added.
But the Mallorca Daily Bulletin reports that the “storm is subsiding” and the “emergency services believe that the worst of the cold snap has passed”.
Emergency services still advise significant caution as rain is still possible on Saturday.
Full report: Spain deploys 5,000 more soldiers as death toll from devastating floods hits 211
Saturday 2 November 2024 17:01
Holly Evans
The death toll after flash flooding wreaked devastation in Spain has reached 211, as the prime minister announced that 5,000 additional soldiers had been deployed to assist the rescue operation.
An unknown number of people remain missing after the country suffered its deadliest natural disaster in living memory, which saw heavy rainfall wash away houses and cars in the eastern and central regions.
On Saturday, rescuers were still searching for bodies in stranded cars and sodden buildings on Saturday, four days after the storm which has devastated the country.
Holly Evans reports:
Live: Rescue operations as Spain recovers from flash flood devastation
Saturday 2 November 2024 16:33
Alex Croft
Follow the link below to watch live as volunteers and emergency services carry out rescue operations in the devastated eastern region of Valencia.
Satellite photos show level of devastation in eastern Valencia region
Saturday 2 November 2024 16:06
Alex Croft
‘It’s all destroyed’: Aftermath of deadly flash floods in Spain
Saturday 2 November 2024 15:43
Alex Croft
‘Everything looks apocalyptic’: Spain flood victim says her entire home was engulfed in less than 10 minutes
Saturday 2 November 2024 15:21
Alex Croft
A terrified Valencia flood victim has revealed the scale of the devastation after heavy floodwaters engulfed her home in a matter of minutes.
Alba Paredes Borja is from the Spanish town of Alfafar, one of the areas hardest hit by the deadly storm, where local authorities are calling for urgent help in receiving food, water and medical supplies.
“I’m terrified. Everything looks apocalyptic,” she told The Independent. The floods – known as the “cold drop” or DANA phenomena – have claimed 158 lives, including at least three people in the municipality, leaving the city in ruins and cut off from all communication.
Salma Ouaguira reports:
‘Where is the aid? My town has turned into a cemetery’ - today’s front page
Saturday 2 November 2024 14:57
Alex Croft
Spanish footballer commemorates victims after scoring goal
Saturday 2 November 2024 14:30
Alex Croft
CA Osasuna footballer Ante Budimir has paid tribute to those affected in Spain’s most devastating floods in modern history.
He did so during a La Liga match between CA Osasuna and Real Valladolid CF at Estadio El Sadar in Pamplona on Saturday.
The t-shirt translates roughly as “Strong Valencia”.
In pictures: Clean-up continues amid the devastation
Saturday 2 November 2024 14:04
Alex Croft
