Although errors are admitted in the planning of the visits of the head of Government and King Felipe VI, sources close to Sánchez blame far-right movements for the “organization” of the violent protests.
Follow the liveblog about the consequences of the floods here
The Spanish Government believes that, although some citizens affected by the floods may also have been involved, the Sunday’s protests were carried out mainly by organized far-right groups. which had the objective of boycotting the visit of Pedro Sánchez and King Felipe VI, reports the newspaper El País. This is an idea conveyed by sources close to the President of the Spanish Government, who also guarantee that the visit was an initiative of the Royal. Chamber and not the government.
The protests, recorded during the visit of King Felipe VI and Pedro Sánchez, were marked by insults and throwing objects at political leaders. For members of Pedro Sánchez’s government cited by the newspaper, this was a fact that “highlighted the extreme right, the antithesis of politics“.
The atmosphere in the Sánchez Government, adds the newspaper, is loneliness but also, some regret related to errors in the planning of the visit, which generated moments of great tension that were recorded by the media. This tension was felt both during the visit of King Felipe VI and the head of the Spanish Government, both of whom were subject to throwing stones and mud.
Tension during the visit of the Kings of Spain to Paiporta. They were received with insults and stones and Pedro Sánchez had to be dismissed
“Given the consequences, it was clearly not the right decision. But anyway… These things can happen, especially if they are organized by extreme right groups,” a source from the Sánchez Government told El País, who insists that everything was caused by “groups that take advantage of the population’s unrest”.
Despite admitting that the political initiative had planning errors, no one in the Sánchez Government expected something like this, indicate the sources cited by the newspaper. It was the Royal House that promoted the visitHowever, the Government, which leads a parliamentary monarchy regime in which the king does not rule, always has the last word; That is to say, these sources explain, the visit could have been cancelled, but on this occasion he chose to do things as requested by the Royal House.
Some Spanish Government sources indicated that Government officials advised against the visit, but El País guarantees, citing sources close to Sánchez, that this was not the case. What the sources agree on is that it was the Royal House that was most committed to the need to visit those towns.
“It probably wasn’t the most opportune time… There may have been a calculation error.“said Transportation Minister Óscar Puente in a television interview. Pedro Sánchez, for his part, publicly downplayed what happened: “We are not going to allow ourselves to be distracted by the violence of some marginal elements. “The majority of society rejects any type of violence like what we see today.”
Source: Observadora