Spain’s monarch pays tribute to the victims of Valencia floods in his Christmas Eve speech

By SUMAN NAISHADHAM The Associated Press

MADRID (AP) — Spanish King Felipe VI used his traditional Christmas Eve speech to remember the victims of the catastrophic Valencia flash floods, and urged the country to remain calm despite public debates around hot-button issues such as immigration and housing affordability.

In a pre-recorded speech that usually reviews the year’s most relevant issues, Felipe said Spain “must never forget the pain and sadness” the flood have caused.

The Oct. 29 floods killed more than 225 people in eastern Spain, damaging countless homes and leaving graveyards of cars piled on top of each other. In some towns, the heavy downpours that caused the floods dropped as much as a year’s worth of rain in just eight hours.

In early November, as Spaniards’ shock at the wreckage turned into frustration, a political blame game began, directed especially at regional authorities who failed to send timely emergency alerts to cell phones on the day of the floods.

The frustration of residents in hard-hit Paiporta near Valencia was on display when people tossed mud and shouted insults at the king and government officials in early November when they made their first visit to the town.

“We have seen — and understood — the frustration, the pain, the impatience, the demands for greater and more effective coordination,” Felipe said about how the disaster was managed, adding that he had asked that aid be sent to everyone who needed it.

He also addressed the country’s housing crunch and high rents, which have become a leading concern in this European Union country that is the eurozone’s fourth-largest economy. Fast-rising rents are especially acute in cities like Barcelona and Madrid, where incomes have failed to keep up, especially for younger people in a country with chronically high unemployment.

Felipe urged that “all the actors involved reflect” and “listen to each other” so that they facilitate bringing access to housing under “affordable conditions.”

Spain’s immigration debate should keep in mind the country’s European partners and immigrants’ countries of origin, Felipe said, warning that “the way in which we are able to address immigration … will say a lot in the future about our principles and the quality of our democracy.”

Felipe said Spain need to remain calm in the public sphere, even in the face of a “sometimes thunderous” contest in its politics.