MADRID, Nov 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Rescuers plunged into inundated garages to find victims of Spain’s deadliest floods in a generation as fresh downpours sparked transport chaos in the northeastern region of Catalonia.
The toll stands at 217 dead – almost all in the eastern Valencia region – with the country dreading the discovery of more corpses as an unknown number of people remain missing.
National weather service AEMET announced the end of the emergency for Valencia but torrential rain struck Catalonia, where residents received telephone alerts urging the utmost caution.
Barcelona’s El Prat airport, Spain’s second busiest, said 50 flights were cancelled or delayed and 17 diverted on Monday, while the city closed some flooded metro stations and suspended regional trains.
Images on social media showed cars ploughing through flooded roads in the Barcelona suburbs of Castelldefels and Gava and bare-footed travellers wading through water that had seeped into El Prat.
Spain also grappled with the aftermath of an extraordinary outburst of popular anger in which crowds heckled and hurled mud at King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
The Civil Guard has opened an investigation into the chaos in the ground-zero town of Paiporta that cut short their visit on Sunday, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told public broadcaster TVE.
He blamed “marginal groups” for instigating the violence where mud spattered the monarchs’ face and clothes and which broke a window of Sanchez’s car.
Organising the visit was “a collective mistake” as fringe groups hijacked raw emotions to endanger the royals, Sanchez and Valencia region leader Carlos Mazon, Puente told television channel La Sexta on Sunday.
The incident underscored growing anger at the authorities’ preparation for and response to the catastrophe.
Experts have questioned the warning systems that failed to alert the population in time and the speed of the response.
Thousands of soldiers, police officers, civil guards and firefighters spent a sixth day distributing aid and clearing mud and debris to find bodies.
But relief works only reached some towns days after the disaster and in many cases volunteers were the first to provide food, water, sanitation and cleaning equipment.
Divers on Monday concentrated their search for missing bodies in garages and a multi-storey car park in the town of Aldaia capable of holding thousands of vehicles.
The storm caught many victims in their vehicles on roads and in underground spaces such as car parks, tunnels and garages where rescue operations are particularly difficult.
Local authorities in Valencia extended travel restrictions for another two days, cancelled classes and urged residents to work from home to facilitate the work of the emergency services.
The unity that bound Spain’s polarised politics when the tragedy struck started to fray as attention turned to those responsible for handling the crisis.
Far-right party Vox slammed Spain’s “failed” state, blaming Sanchez for the slow deployment of troops and “demonising” volunteers. The hard-left Podemos demanded the resignation of the Valencia region’s conservative leader Carlos Mazon.
Sanchez has said now is not the time to scrutinise the management of the disaster during urgent rescue and reconstruction work.
The main opposition Popular Party urged the left-wing government to go further by declaring a national emergency and approving aid packages for individual citizens. — NNN-AGENCIES
