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Queen Letizia and King Felipe of Spain clashed many scandals when it comes to the Spanish royal family over the years, but unfortunately their recent visit to visit flood victims took a messy turn when a crowd turned against the royal couple.

The country’s Valencia region was hit by deadly floods last week, with the death toll rising to 217 by Monday, November 4, according to Associated Press. The Spanish royal couple traveled to the area on November 3 to comfort people affected by the disaster, but growing frustration among victims led to Letizia and Felipe – along with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and other officials at the scene – being hit . with mud and other objects.

right Daily Mailthe royal family “remained calm and made more efforts to speak to individual residents” after the incident, but local officials “fled” the scene after members of the crowd turned violent.

“What do you expect? Shall we call it sweet nothings?” a local said of King Felipe, according to the publication. The supermarket worker, who lost 12 colleagues in the flood, blamed the government for the disaster. “They wanted to kill us. The first thing you have to do is warn people when a dam is about to be overwhelmed and broken,” he said.

“The king and all came very clean and to look good in front of the city and the cameras, but that doesn’t help us at all,” said another resident. “They should come here and get rid of the mud and the dead that are in the garages. And then he will be one of us.”

Letizia and Felipe appeared to be unharmed, although one of their royal protection officers was hit in the face with an object and was bleeding. Daily Mail.

Queen Letizia— who had dirt covering her face and jacket — appeared distraught by the devastation she witnessed, breaking down in tears in a video shared by BBC while talking to the victims and giving a woman a long, tight hug.

After a member of the crowd shouted insults at him, the Spanish king stormed off, replying: “If you want, I’m not coming and I’ll stay in Madrid,” referring to the royal palace. It certainly seemed to be a case of damned if you do and damned if you don’t, as the royal family would have faced extreme criticism if they hadn’t visited the area worst affected by the floods.

That said, the royal family was scheduled to visit another city in Valencia but opted not to attend after the incident, while residents “reportedly shouted ‘cowards’ at the absent monarchs,” according to the document. Daily Mail.

The Spanish king later shared his thoughts on the visit, telling officials (according to Tutorby People), “We have to understand the anger and frustration of many people given everything they’ve been through, as well as the difficulty of understanding how all the mechanisms work when it comes to emergency operations.”