Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was evacuated from Spain’s flood disaster zone on Sunday as furious locals pelted mud at political leaders and the Spanish king over a string of failures that left them helplessly exposed to a deadly deluge.
The anger erupted after Sánchez, King Felipe and the head of the Valencia region arrived in Paiporta, a shell-shocked riverside town that was home to nearly one-third of the flood’s 214 victims, with some residents yelling “murderers” at the group.
People on the town’s slurry-filled streets complain that the authorities warned them too late about the flood threat this week, then compounded the error by mismanaging a slow and under-resourced relief effort that left many fending for themselves for days.