Summary

King Felipe VI of Spain faced a hostile crowd in Valencia, where unprecedented floods have devastated communities, leaving over 200 dead and many missing. Footage shows protesters shouting “murderer” and “shame” at the king, with some throwing objects and mud as he walked through the affected area of Paiporta.

  • acargitz
    link
    fedilink
    English
    59
    edit-2
    30 days ago

    I think the king is being a lightning rod in this case, not sure what a ceremonial rich dude could have done.

    That said, this should be a red alert warning to the entirety of Europe. It happened in Austria last month, in Greece last year and it’s going to keep happening. We can’t keep doing business as usual, the climate crisis is here.

    • @Buttflapper
      link
      English
      1429 days ago

      not sure what a ceremonial rich dude could have done

      People are afraid and confused, they have never seen anything like this. They need something to direct their anger towards, and out of confusion, they see this rich guy with no problems and never having struggled before in his life. Too easy of a target. There are probably a lot of questions that people don’t have answers to. How could they have not seen this coming? Why was there no warning? Why aren’t the rich people using their personal funds to help with the efforts of recovery? That’s my take

    • @LavenderDay3544
      link
      English
      328 days ago

      I think the king is being a lightning rod in this case, not sure what a ceremonial rich dude could have done.

      He could have lobbied on their behalf. And it would look very disrespectful and shameful for the government to ignore him asking for help for his subjects.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      328 days ago

      not sure what a ceremonial rich dude could have done.

      This is the kind of situation in which a king (or president) can make a difference.

      Royalty don’t have any direct power to order people to do things, but they do have a voice with quite a broad reach. Whenever the king speaks, people will hear it. Even if they don’t care about the king.

      In a time where people are getting their information from sources curated to fit their own political bubble or economical interests, it’s quite powerful to be able to reach a whole country across political and economic interests.

      Royalties can’t dictate, but they can encourage and motivate people to work together on a common goal despite of their differences.

      When something is seriously threatening the country, it would be nice if the king would bother making a motivational speech, so that people, companies and politicians could see the purpose of uniting against the common threat.

      It might not sway the opinions of people or companies who have strong interests in not doing anything differently, but it will boost the morale of people trying to do their best, enabling them to rest assured that they’re doing the right thing despite of what others might do. We could say it’s a really vague forn of long term meta-politics, but sometimes that’s also all that is needed to set a direction.

      It’s not political as such, but more like “yo let’s save this sinking ship” instead of passivily watching it happen. It won’t fix anything by itself, but it’s a good start. Without a good start and set direction, you can be sure that nothing will ever change.

      • Cethin
        link
        fedilink
        English
        128 days ago

        Not to mention the mass stores of wealth I’m sure he has. That could probably go a long way towards improving things. I’m sure also, as a rich person, he produces far more CO2 than most, which certainly doesn’t help the situation. He could work towards decreasing that and improving green initiatives.

  • @HootinNHollerin
    link
    English
    53
    edit-2
    1 month ago

    It’s long past time for monarchs to be a thing of the past

  • Flying SquidM
    link
    English
    361 month ago

    Footage shows an angry crowd shouting “murderer” and “shame” at the king, who was also asked why nothing had been done to avoid the tragedy.

    Damn right. Fuck monarchies.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      721 month ago

      Unfortunately, yes. We can’t even vote on the matter.

      However, it’s worth noting that a good part of the hate is directed to Mazon, the governor of the region that is being accused of not only downplaying the alerts from the weather agency but also of not asking for help nor declaring the emergency status that would allow the central gov. to take control and send more help for political gains (the central gov is from a left-leaning coalition while the region gov is from a right-fascist coalition).

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          431 month ago

          Not technically. He is part of a right-wing “moderated” party. Years ago, his party was that at least. Now, their party (Partido Popular) are very close-tied to Vox, a fascist party pretty much like the MAGA GOP. The PP has decided to become much more fascist in order to not lose against Vox and ultimately decided to adopt much of Vox’s political views in order to ally with them and stand a a chance in the elections.

          • DominusOfMegadeus
            link
            fedilink
            English
            181 month ago

            I appreciate the in-depth explanation. Power hungry cabrones who will do anything to hold on to power; the rest of the world can get fucked.

          • @ChicoSuave
            link
            English
            91 month ago

            Ah, ok right wing. That’s all you had to say.

          • DominusOfMegadeus
            link
            fedilink
            English
            2
            edit-2
            28 days ago

            It happens a lot on Lemmy, and with all this text-based communicating we do now. Par for the course. Also, the serious answers were both relevant and interesting!

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      221 month ago

      There is also a King of Denmark, England, Norway, Sweden, Belgium and a King of the Netherlands. But most monarchies are constitutional so they hold no political power.

    • Zombie-Mantis
      link
      English
      729 days ago

      Yes, the monarchy was reestablished after General Franco’s (fascist) Nationalists won the Spanish Civil War against the Republicans and Socialists (and Communists and anarchists, all in their separate groups) back in the 1930’s.

  • @LovableSidekick
    link
    English
    11
    edit-2
    29 days ago

    In other news, Spain still has a King and Queen.

    The fuck???

  • @SiEstUbiEst
    link
    English
    530 days ago

    Once I was the king of Spain, now I eat humble pie

    • DaMamaJama
      link
      English
      329 days ago

      Hey Clinton! Hey Yeltzin! Got problems? You phone me!

    • @ynazuma
      link
      English
      24
      edit-2
      30 days ago

      Your ignorance is overwhelming

      Have you ever been to Spain? It is one of the most livable countries in Europe. Madrid has become the most desirable capital city in Western Europe in the last few years. The road and rail networks are superior to most developed countries. The healthcare system works better than almost any country you can point at. Its banks, construction companies, universities are some of the best and largest in the world.

      How is Spain backwards?

      Disclaimer: I am not, nor have I ever been, Spanish

      • @Nuke_the_whales
        link
        English
        -1730 days ago

        They raped, murdered and pillaged my ancestors and up until the but very distant past. So pardon me for holding a grudge

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          1129 days ago

          I might have bad news for you: your ancestors raped murdered and pillaged someones ancestors. I don’t even need to know where exactly you’re from to make this statement with full confidence.

          So hold your grudge if you want, just don’t be hypocritical about it.

          • @[email protected]
            link
            fedilink
            English
            4
            edit-2
            29 days ago

            Nah mate, I’m pretty sure the only barbaric civilizations were the European ones. Never heard of any american civilization doing that kind of thing in the past. Nor any asian one. It’s just the european barbarians…

            /s (although it should be pretty evident).

        • Flying SquidM
          link
          English
          1129 days ago

          Much more recently, Germans put a bunch of my ancestors in ovens. I don’t hold a grudge with the ones who had nothing to do with it (i.e. almost every German alive today).

          • @[email protected]
            link
            fedilink
            English
            -329 days ago

            Germany was forced to clean up house, though.

            Franco died in bed (in extreme agony, apparently; the only good thing the bastard ever did; but still), naming his successor, whose son is the current unelected parasite on the throne. The dictator’s children and grandchildren are public figures, celebrated and followed by embarrassingly large portions of the population.

            The murderers and torturers who worked for him kept their jobs, were forgiven all their crimes, and their children and grandchildren succeed them (old money and contacts in high places go a long way towards winning elections).

            The supposed “transition” merely put some new wallpaper on top of the existing structures, with a watered down constitution voted under military threats: vote for it, or else, even going as far as staging a coup attempt so that Franco’s successor could “save the day”, become a hero, and water the new supposed democracy down even further.

            Do not compare Spain to Germany. It’s extremely insulting to Germany.

            • Flying SquidM
              link
              English
              3
              edit-2
              29 days ago

              Last I checked, Franco did not sire the entire Spanish population. Who you are blaming for things that happened before any of them were born.

              • @[email protected]
                link
                fedilink
                English
                -229 days ago

                Franco did not sire the entire Spanish population.

                No, but he did kill, or drive into exile or poverty and political irrelevance anyone who didn’t share his views.

                Most of the surviving population, especially the ones with economic and political power, were fascists. Their children were fascists. Their grandchildren were fascists wearing progressive masks. And their great grandchildren are fascists who’ve taken off their masks.

                When the bastard said he left everything “tied up and well tied up” he wasn’t kidding.

                • Flying SquidM
                  link
                  English
                  229 days ago

                  No, but he did kill, or drive into exile or poverty and political irrelevance anyone who didn’t share his views.

                  Those people were also Spanish. The ones you condemn for what they did to your ancestors. So shouldn’t you be in favor of that?

                • @[email protected]
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  128 days ago

                  Sure mate. I guess you know half or more of spain population to say so…

                  What you apparently forgot to mention is that even in Germany or Italy, where they “cleaned” the place of fascism are dealing with a raise in fascism. Maybe your vision is slightly biased.

        • @ynazuma
          link
          English
          630 days ago

          Yeah man, my ancestors were raped, murdered, and tortured by a European country in the XX’th century.

          I don’t hold this generation accountable for the crimes of their forefathers.

          Move on

          • @[email protected]
            link
            fedilink
            English
            -129 days ago

            Most other states tend not to celebrate their raping, murdering, and pillaging as a national holiday, though.

            And there’s also the fact that most Spanish politicians are descendants of those that served under the coupist dictator Franco (who nominated the current parasite in chief’s father as his successor), and share the same political views, as does a nauseatingly high portion of the population.

            Move on

            No.

            • @[email protected]
              link
              fedilink
              English
              229 days ago

              So what"s your solution? Because, as far as I know, Spain doesn’t have an colonies nowadays. And what are those benefits anyways?

            • @ynazuma
              link
              English
              129 days ago

              All cultures to a greater or lesser extent, enjoy the fruits of raping and pillaging other groups. That is just how it was done for the entirety of human existence

              People like you just like to concentrate on your own perceived exceptionalism and that of your group. All this intelectual dishonesty serves to get economic benefit from playing the victim

              • @[email protected]
                link
                fedilink
                English
                -129 days ago

                Genocide and theft are okay because everyone does it?

                Tell me that you’re of European descent without telling me you’re of European descent.

                • @ynazuma
                  link
                  English
                  129 days ago

                  You mean like how Chinese, Mongols, Japanese, Namibians, Egyptians, Somalians, Aztec, Cherokee, all raped and pillaged to their hearts content for literally hundreds and some for more that a thousand years, until someone stronger showed up?

                  Yeah, get a history book

                  And no, I am not European or American or come from any developed country. I am Latin American, but unlike you, I don’t get my education from internet bulletin boards

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          329 days ago

          If they raped your ancestors, which by the way I believe is disingenuous, as Im sure much mixing was consensual (not denying rape though), you are as much the offspring of the rapist as of the raped, you’d do well in starting to acknowledge that you are part of that which you hate.

          If a black person has an offspring with a white one, the offspring has the same right to be callen white or black, even though society has’nt realized that yet.