Riots during royal visit to Spain: Right-wing extremists under suspicion

Violent protests during a visit by Spain's royal couple and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to flood-hit areas in the east of the country may have been organized by right-wing militant groups.

There are some signs of this, Interior Minister Fernando Grande Marasca explained on state television RTVE. An investigation has been launched.

Regarding the unrest in the community of Piporta, not far from the provincial capital Valencia, Mayor Maribel Arbat said she did not know many of the violent demonstrators. They must have come on purpose.

King Felipe and Queen Letizia were attacked by mud in Paiporta on Sunday. One of Letizia's bodyguards had a bloody face, and the mud-covered queen held her head and cried. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was attacked with clubs and whisked away from the community, according to the left-wing government, while the royal family faced citizen discontent. Protesters kicked and punched the front of a government car. People chanted slogans such as “Murderer, murderer” and “Go away!” Some of them wore T-shirts with far-right symbols.

King warns of fake news and confusion

The monarch also made it clear on Sunday that the riots could be politically motivated or caused by fake news. «Don’t listen to everything that is published. There is a lot of information noise. Someone is interested. Why? And chaos broke out,” Felipe told residents who were allowed to approach and talk to him, as heard on Spanish television.

Spain's most prominent media outlets, citing their own sources, agreed: residents, angry about their situation and some of the mistakes made by the authorities, were infiltrated and incited by right-wing extremist activists. The Pioneer newspaper wrote in an editorial that storm victims' anger was understandable, but the groups exploited it. According to RTVE, in the chat of right-wing extremist forces, someone called to go to Paiporta to “welcome” the head of the Socialist government Sanchez.

At least 217 people were killed in the so-called storm of the century in eastern Spain, mostly in the Valencia region popular with holidaymakers, according to the latest official figures. However, the search for the missing persons continues. There is no official missing person count. In Valencia on Tuesday, some towns received their usual rainfall for the year in just a few hours. (HKL/SDA/DPA)

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