Shovel-wielding mob strikes Spanish PM Sánchez on visit to flood-hit town

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez “received a blow” during a visit to a flood-hit town that was ambushed by a violent mob, a senior minister said Monday.

Sánchez on Sunday joined King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia on a tour of the Valencian town of Paiporta, which was among the hardest hit by devastating floods that have killed more than 200 people and carved a swath of destruction through the south and east of the country.

The prime minister and royals were pelted with mud by angry crowds chanting “Murderers!” One of the vehicles in Sánchez’s motorcade had its windows smashed by a crowd wielding shovels, and protesters threw sticks at Sánchez, forcing his entourage to cut the trip short.

Sánchez was struck during the melee, Minister of the Interior Fernando Grande-Marlaska told Spanish media on Monday, and was evacuated by his security team after it determined that the threat to the prime minister was “real and evident.” Marlaska added that the attackers belonged to “violent fringe” groups.

“We will let the investigation take its course … but it is obvious that there was reasonably a minimum of organization on the part of some marginal violent groups that must be condemned in the strongest terms,” ​​Grande-Marlaska said.

A far-right group has claimed responsibility for the attack on Sánchez, according to Spanish media reports.

Locals in Paiporta are furious at how the Spanish authorities have handled the disaster and its aftermath, with urgent weather warnings delayed and help yet to arrive in some affected villages in the region. National government officials complain that regional authorities, who have jurisdiction over emergency management, have been slow to accept Madrid’s offer to send in more recovery forces. 

Sánchez on Saturday announced that 5,000 soldiers and 5,000 police officers would be sent to assist recovery efforts in the flood-ravaged part of the country in Spain’s largest-ever deployment of troops in peacetime.

Following the attack on Sunday, the prime minister urged the public to remain calm and said his government would continue working to aid those in flood-damaged areas.

“I want to convey all our solidarity and our recognition of the anguish and suffering of the people of Paiporta,” he said, while stressing his rejection of “the kind of violence like that which we’ve seen today.”

Aitor Hernández-Morales contributed to this report.