King of Spain praises work of armed forces during visit to Valencia flood zone

KING Felipe visited Valencia province on Tuesday to check on the work of the armed forces in helping emergency relief efforts in the flood-hit area.

The monarch commended the ‘spirit’ of working ‘shoulder to shoulder, side by side, hand to hand, but all with the same heart’.

Felipe also confirmed that he will return to the region next week with Queen Letizia.

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“From the beginning we have wanted to convey that the desire to be present in various ways in all the affected places is going to be constant for us in the near future,” he stated.

He made his position clear after mud-throwing incidents forced the abandonment of a visit to Paiporta on November 3.

The monarch’s tour on Tuesday started in Betera, where 600 Air Force troops and the command of the Military Emergency Unit are located.

He later visited the Galicia ship that had docked at the port of Valencia and also the Feria Valencia, which is housing over 2,500 soldiers.

King Felipe said: “I relayed to them the confidence that I had from the beginning, and that I continue to have in them.”

“They also showed me how they work and the the response of citizens; the gratitude they show for what they are doing, sometimes even beyond their means, day and night, 24 hours a day, and for all the needs that arise or adapting to each phase of the emergency.”

Felipe stressed that the spirit and morale of the military is ‘very high’ because ‘there is no greater satisfaction than to see that people are being helped’

“It is an unprecedented operation in Spain, with the use of a force of such magnitude,” he added.