King Felipe, during his visit to Paiporta on Sunday

King Felipe, during his visit to Paiporta on Sunday. Shouts of "get out," as well as mud-throwing, greeted the entourage of the King and Queen of Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and the President of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, upon their arrival at the center of Paiporta. | EFE/ Biel Aliño

Humphrey CarterPalma 15/11/2024 11:13
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The King and Queen of Spain appear to have broad shoulders. Next week they will pay a return visit to the epicentre of the catastrophic floods in Valencia where survivors heckled and hurled mud at them during their first trip some ten days ago. Furious residents chanted “murderers” in the ruined Valencia region town of Paiporta and pelted the couple and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez with projectiles and mud on November 3.

While Sanchez and the Valencia region’s leader Carlos Mazon, who is under mounting pressure to resign over his handling of the incident, were swiftly escorted away, the royals braved the chaos to speak with flood victims and calm tensions down.

On the one hand, this was very admirable; on the other, never have members of the Spanish royal family, and particularly the King and Queen, ever been insulted and attacked in such a violent way. And the fact that the PM did a runner does not help either. I am sure the PM’s advisers warned him that his presence had all the hallmarks of sparking anger, but the royals? I think there are plenty of lessons to be learnt from what happened in Valencia, one of them about the Spanish royals’ standing in 21st century society.