Yzabelle Bostyn
THE mayor of a flood ravaged town where the King and Queen of Spain made an unexpected visit has shared her frustration with the royal surprise.
Lorena Silvent, mayor of one of the towns most affected by recent DANA storms, Catarroja, has expressed her frustration after the royals made a surprise visit to the area.
The PSOE politician accused the royal party of purposely going to a small ‘up and running’ section of the town, ignoring large swathes of people still suffering the effects of devastating floods.
King Felipe and Queen Letizia visited the area unannounced yesterday, Sunday December 22, accompanied by their two daughters, Leonor and Sofia.
According to the mayor, they went to an ‘operational’ area of the town, to ‘give the appearance of normality, one that isn’t true.’
The royals chatted with locals and snapped pictures, but failed to warn town authorities including the police of their visit.
Silvent claimed she was not informed beforehand of their appearance, which included a tour of the market.
“While people are working to restore their homes, they’re having a drink, they should have gone to visit the soldiers that have been here for over 50 days, that are tired, doing what nobody else wants to,” she said.
“The half of town that the royals didn’t visit is more populated, it’s where the high buildings are and it’s still full of around a thousand soldiers working on clean up operations.”
This Saturday, fresh reinforcements arrived in Catarroja to try and finish clearing debris from garages once and for all.
Silvent was sorting out a burst pipe in the Town Hall when she began to receive messages and videos of the royals.
However, she refused to greet them, saying it was a ‘total lack of respect to not even let me know they were coming beforehand.’
In contrast, many locals have applauded the royals, saying they were ‘down to earth’ and ‘friendly.’
