Alex Trelinski
KING Felipe and Queen Letizia got a warm greeting on a visit to flood-hit Chiva in Valencia province on Tuesday.
The royal couple’s welcome was in contrast to the mud-pelting they received from some angry residents in Paiporta on November 3.
It meant their trip to Chiva later that day had to be postponed but they promised immediately that would arrange a new date.
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King Felipe returned to Valencia last week to check out armed forces deployments to help in flood rescue work and reconstruction.
Amid applause and cheers in Chiva, Felipe and Letizia were accompanied by Valencian president Carlos Mazon and the Minister of Territorial Policy, Angel Víctor Torres.
There was shouts calling for Mazon’s resignation and describing him as ‘shameless’ amidst the group of around 400 people waiting to see the King and Queen.
Asked by a journalist if the couple had a message, Letizia said: “To listen, to share, to continue to maintain attention here, which must be constant. It must not fall”,
The couple also stated that ‘we will come back many more times’.
They visited some of the damaged areas of Chiva as well as going to a temporary bridge built by volunteers and examine the ravine area.
Felipe and Letizia spoke to the local police and military deployed in the area, as well as to residents affected by the flood.
The royals were then scheduled to visit Utiel before going to the Castilla-La Mancha region to take in the town of Letur in the Sierra del Segura where six people died.
