Survivors of Spain’s devastating floods pelted the country’s King with mud and hurled insults on his first visit to areas hit by the natural disaster.
Police were forced to intervene as survivors voiced their anger at King Felipe VI and top government officials, while Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was evacuated from the scene, according to Spanish broadcaster RTVE.
The scenes of bitter anger unfolded when the official contingent started to walk the mud-covered streets of Paiporta, one of the hardest hit areas where over 60 people perished and thousands of lives were shattered.
Police attempted to keep back the crowd of several dozen who hurled mud and wielded shovels and poles threateningly.
"Get out! Get out!" and "Killers!" the crowd shouted among other insults. Bodyguards opened umbrellas to protect the royals and officials from the barrage of muck.
After being forced to seek protection, the king, with flecks of mud on his face, remained calm and made several efforts to speak to individual residents.
One person appeared to have wept on his shoulder, while he also shook the hand of a man.
"They knew it, they knew it, and yet they did nothing," one young man shouted at the king while waving a finger in his face.
One young woman hit a bodyguard with a long pole.
It was an unprecedented incident for the Spanish monarchy which takes great care to craft an image of a sovereign who is liked by the nation.
But the public rage over the haphazard management of the crisis came to a boil on Sunday.
Queen Letizia and regional Valencia President Carlos Mazón were also in the contingent. The queen had small glops of mud on her hands and arms as she spoke to women.
"We don’t have any water," one woman told the queen.
Many people still don't have drinking water five days after the floods struck. Internet and mobile phone coverage remains patchy.
Most people only got power back on Saturday. The neighborhood's stores and supermarkets are in ruins.
Paiporta, which has a population of 30,000, still has many city blocks completely clogged with piles of detritus, countless totaled cars and a ubiquitous layer of mud.
Over 200 people have died from Tuesday's floods and thousands have had their homes destroyed by the tsunami-like wave.
Indignation at the management of the disaster started after the initial shock wore off.
The floods had already hit Paiporta when the regional officials issued an alert to mobile phones. It sounded two hours too late.
However, after approximately half an hour of tension, the monarchs got in official cars and left with a mounted police escort.
One woman smacked an official car with an umbrella and another kicked it before it sped off.
