Alex Trelinski
A GOVERNMENT minister has said that a ‘marginal’ group of violent people threw mud at the King and Queen of Spain on Sunday during their visit to flood-ravaged Pairporta.
Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, and Valencian president, Carlos Mazon, were also hit, with Sanchez’s official car also getting its windows smashed.
Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, told broadcaster TVE on Monday that the Guardia Civil are trying to locate the perpetrators.
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“In the next few hours or days there will be significant progress regarding the identification of the participants in the altercations,” said Grande-Marlaska.
He said they were led by a ‘very marginal’ group of people and that there was ‘minimal organisation’ behind what happened.
The Minister would not go into detail as to whether far-right ultras were involved.
“It is being investigated and I do not want to prejudge any conclusions that have to be objectively proven,” he added.
Grande-Marlaska would not get drawn into whether it was an appropriate time for the King and Queen to visit what has been called ‘ground zero’ of the Valencia flood disaster.
It is ‘obvious’, he said, that the objective of Felipe VI and Letizia was to express their solidarity with the residents.
He explained security for the Paiporta visit was organised by the Royal security team with help from the Guardia Civil.
The Minister said that Pedro Sanchez left the scene for ‘obvious security reasons’
“There was an obvious risk and he had already received been hit with his security team acting diligently,” he added.
