Spain floods: searchers scour car parks and shops amid fear of death toll

Hundreds of civil and military emergency workers are searching shopping malls, garages and underground car parks for more victims of floods in the Valencia region that have killed at least 214 people, as public anger is increasing due to the Spanish authorities dealing with the crisis.

Yellow and amber weather warnings were in place for parts of Valencia and neighboring Catalonia on Monday, with people in affected areas advised to stay off roads and avoid beaches and rivers.

Heavy rain hit the Barcelona area on Monday morning, leading the regional government to issue a public safety alert and cancel all local train services. More than 50 flights that were supposed to leave El Prat airport were canceled or significantly delayed.

Over the weekend, military emergency unit (UME) personnel focused their attention on shopping malls and parking lots where people may have been trapped by flooding, caused by heavy rains that experts combined with extreme weather conditions.

On Sunday, UME workers were able to enter the underground parking lot of Bonaire’s main shopping center in the Valencian town of Aldaia. . Using a small boat and flashlights, police searched 1,800 parking spaces in the area, telling reporters that so far about 50 vehicles have been found and no bodies have been found.

The disaster, which prompted the central government to send 10,000 soldiers and police, killed 210 people in Valencia, three in Castilla-La Mancha and one in Málaga. The number of casualties is unknown. There are fears that the death toll could rise as aid reaches previously inaccessible areas.

The Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, described the floods as the worst natural disaster in Spain’s recent history and said that all necessary resources would be mobilized to deal with its consequences.

On Monday, another 2,500 soldiers were sent to the affected areas, in addition to the 5,000 sent in recent days. A Spanish navy also arrived at the port of Valencia on Monday, carrying ships, helicopters and trucks carrying food and water.

But anger over the response to the crisis – and, in particular, over the Valencian regional government’s delay in sending an emergency alert when the floods arrived on Tuesday – has only risen.

On Sunday, a high-profile visit to the badly affected Valencian city of Paiporta was marred after an angry crowd threw mud at Sánchez, along with the local president, Carlos Mazón, King Felipe and Queen Letizia. There were also shouts of “Murderers!” and “Get out!”

Speaking hours after he was hurriedly escorted from the scene, the prime minister acknowledged the pain of the people but said few people in Paiporta were behind the scenes. angry ones.

He said: “We know what people need and our priorities are clear: saving lives, recovering the bodies of the dead, and rebuilding the affected areas.”

“Violence committed by a few people will not destroy the common interest. It is time to look ahead and continue to work with all the means and cooperation needed to deal with this emergency together. ”

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after the news release

Sources in Sánchez’s socialist administration were more specific, describing Paiporta’s protest as a “right-wing and anti-political demonstration”.

Spain’s Transport Minister, Óscar Puente, admitted that the visit may have been a mistake.

“Maybe it wasn’t the best time,” he told Spanish TV station La Sexta. “There’s a lot of anger and people feel abandoned … and you have jobs organized by people who are on the extreme right.”

The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, told the TVE radio station that the police have opened an investigation into the events that marred the official visit.

King Felipe, who insisted on continuing the trip, said he appreciated the anger of the people.

“One has to understand the anger and frustration of many people given everything they have been through, as well as the difficulty of understanding how all the systems work when it comes to emergency operations,” he said. said on Sunday.

Mayors from the affected municipalities have been asking officials to send help as soon as possible.

Guillermo Luján, the mayor of Aldaia said: “We are very angry and desperate. “We have a city in ruins. We need to start over and I’m asking for help. Please help us.”