King Charles speaks out on Valencia floods as he sends personal message to King Felipe of Spain

King Charles said he and Queen Camilla were ‘heartbroken’ after learning of the floods in Valencia.

The 75-year-old monarch wrote a personal letter to King Felipe of Spain, offering his condolences for the ‘tragic loss of so many lives’.

While it is reported that the Spanish royal family will visit the region today, devastating floods in the region have killed more than 200 people.

Charles R. Kral, who signed the message, wrote: ‘My wife and I were deeply saddened to learn of the devastation and devastation following the devastating floods in Southern and Eastern Spain.

‘Many people in the UK have strong, personal ties to Spain and we are bound together by our nations and our commonalities.

King Charles (Photo taken in September) said he and Queen Camilla were ‘heartbroken’ after learning of floods in Valencia

‘We extend our most sincere and heartfelt condolences to you and the people of Spain for the tragic loss of so many lives.’

He added: ‘Our special thoughts, prayers and deepest possible condolences are with all those who have lost loved ones and livelihoods in this terrible week.’

Hopes of finding survivors have faded five days after showers of muddy water devastated towns and infrastructure in Spain’s worst disaster in decades.

Almost all of the deaths occurred in the Valencia region, where thousands of security and emergency services frantically cleared debris and mud in the search for bodies.

Describing the ‘worst natural disaster in our country’s recent history’, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that it was the second deadliest flood in Europe this century.

The prime minister said the government accepted the Valencia regional leader’s request for 5,000 more soldiers and informed Sanchez that 5,000 more police and civil guards would be deployed.

He added that Spain has carried out its largest peacetime deployment of military and security force personnel.

Restoring order and distributing aid to devastated towns and villages, some of which have been cut off from food, water and electricity since Tuesday’s downpour, is a priority.

It was reported that King Felipe will visit the region today. Image showing a minute’s silence for flood victims on 31 October

Volunteers and residents clear mud in Paiporta, on the outskirts of Valencia, four days after flash floods washed away everything in their path

The 75-year-old monarch wrote a personal letter to King Felipe of Spain offering his condolences for the ‘tragic loss of so many lives’

While authorities were criticized for their pre-flood warning systems, some aggrieved residents complained that the response to the disaster was too slow.

“I am aware that the intervention is not enough, there are problems and serious shortages… towns buried in mud, desperate people searching for their relatives… we need to improve,” Sanchez said.

In the ground zero towns of Alfafar and Sedavi, reporters saw no soldiers as residents shoveled mud from their homes and firefighters pumped water from garages and tunnels.

“We thank everyone who came to help us, because nothing came from the authorities,” an angry Estrella Caceres, 66, said in Sedavi.

Meanwhile, royal families across Europe stepped up to express their support for the nation.

King Philippe of Belgium has also been in contact with King Felipe, and the royal in Brussels added on his former Twitter account, X: ‘Our thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones and the Spanish people.’

King Felipe and Queen Letizia had previously made the following statement: ‘It is our greatest wish that the missing persons are found and rescued as soon as possible, and our solidarity with the thousands of people affected.’

Authorities in the Valencia region restricted access to roads for two days so emergency services could conduct search, rescue and logistics operations more effectively.

It is difficult to determine the exact number of missing persons due to severe damage to telephone and transportation networks.

Rescue teams continue to search for survivors amid fears underwater car parks will become ‘mass graves’

Water flows down stairs in a Majorca town as roads are inundated by high flood waters

A view of the demolition work carried out on a house damaged after the flood in Letur city of Albacete province of Spain

People wearing PPE are desperately trying to sweep up the mud as they clean the streets

Food donations were made to struggling residents in Valencia

Cars that went off the road due to heavy floods collapsed into a ditch at a construction site

Vehicles piled up on the streets in Alfafar, Valencia, caused by a storm late Tuesday and early Wednesday that left hundreds of people dead or missing.

Sanchez said that electricity was restored to 94 percent of the houses affected by the power outages, and about half of the cut phone lines were repaired.

Transport Minister Oscar Puente told El Pais newspaper that some highways had reopened but local and regional roads were like ‘Swiss cheese’, meaning some places would likely be inaccessible by land for weeks.

Carrying food, water and cleaning equipment, ordinary citizens continued their grassroots efforts on Saturday to aid recovery.

An AFP journalist saw about 1,000 people set out from the Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia towards nearby towns devastated by floods.

“There is nothing left,” Mario Silvestre, a resident of the destroyed town of Chiva, told AFP when he saw the damage.

‘Politicians promise a lot. “When help comes, it will come,” said the man in his eighties.

Authorities urged people to stay at home to avoid traffic congestion on the roads that would disrupt the work of emergency services.

Regional leader Carlos Mazon on Saturday described the flooding as ‘the worst moment in our history’ and made a series of proposals to help his region recover, from infrastructure to economic support.

According to the Spanish news agency EFE, he will visit flood-affected areas on Sunday with the royal family and Sanchez.

The storm that caused flooding on Tuesday was caused by cold air moving over the warm waters of the Mediterranean and is common this time of year.

But scientists warn that climate change caused by human activities is increasing the severity, duration and frequency of such extreme weather events.

Emergency services issued an update late on Saturday confirming 213 deaths, 210 in the Valencia region, two in neighboring Castilla-La Mancha and one in Andalusia to the south.

Authorities warned that the death toll could rise as vehicles trapped in tunnels and underground car parks were cleared.