Spain deploys 15,000 police and troops in flood clean-up

Vigilante groups have begun patrolling streets in an effort to prevent looting amid criticism of the government’s response

- RACHEL HAGAN

Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez has said nearly 15,000 troops and police have been deployed to help the cities and towns affected by Spain’s deadliest flooding disaster in recent history.

Frustration over the government’s management of the flooding crisis has sparked public outcry and prompted some citizens to turn to self-policing, frustrated by what they see as a lacklustre official response.

Groups of local men are patrolling rubble-strewn, poorly lit streets in Paiporta, the suburb in Valencia where crowds pelted mud at Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia when they visited at the weekend – and where more than 60 people out of the total death toll of 217 were killed.

One 19-year-old man, who gave his name as Martin, told reporters that he and his friends are taking the law into their own hands because they believe police are not carrying out their duty to maintain public safety. “We’re patrolling because we don’t want our neighbours to feel the insecurity they’ve been feeling the past few days due to various robberies,” he said. “People have already lost enough.”

Speaking at a press conference in Madrid yesterday, Mr Sanchez paid tribute to the work of the national police and civil guard. “I remember, at the first moments of this emergency, there was talk of looting,” Mr Sanchez said. “Today, fortunately, we are observing that this looting is falling to absolutely marginal figures. More than 170 people have been detained.”