Floods in Spain: Searchers search parking lots and shopping centers amid fears of rising death toll | Spain

Hundreds of civilian and military personnel are searching shopping centers, garages and underground car parks for more victims of the floods in the Valencia region that have killed at least 214 people, as public anger grows over Spanish authorities' handling of the disaster.

Yellow and amber weather warnings were in effect for parts of Valencia and neighboring Catalonia on Monday. People in affected areas have been advised to stay off roads and stay away from the coast and rivers.

Heavy rain hit the Barcelona region on Monday morning, prompting the regional government to issue civil protection warnings and suspend all local trains.

Over the weekend, personnel from the armed forces' Military Emergency Unit (UME) focused their efforts on shopping centers and parking lots where people may have been trapped by flooding caused by heavy rains that experts have linked to the climate emergency.

On Sunday, UME workers managed to enter the underground car park of the huge Bonaire shopping complex in the Valencian town of Aldaia after pumping out the floodwaters and clearing the mud.

The disaster, which prompted the central government to deploy 10,000 soldiers and police, killed 210 people in Valencia, three in Castile-La Mancha and one in Málaga. There are fears the death toll could rise as relief efforts reach previously inaccessible areas.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the floods the worst natural disaster in Spain's modern history and said all necessary resources would be mobilized to deal with the consequences.

But anger over the response to the crisis – and particularly over the Valencian regional government's delay in issuing an emergency alert amid Tuesday's floods – has only increased.

On Sunday, a high-profile visit to the hard-hit Valencian town of Paiporta was cut short after an angry crowd threw mud at Sánchez as well as regional president Carlos Mazón, King Felipe and Queen Letizia. There were also shouts of “Killer!” and “Get out!”

A few hours after he was quickly escorted from the area, the prime minister acknowledged people's pain but said a small minority of people in Paiporta were behind the angry scenes.

“We know what people need and our priorities are clear: save lives, find the bodies of the deceased and rebuild the affected areas,” he said.

“The violence perpetrated by a few people will not affect the collective interest. It is time to look forward and continue to work with all means and the necessary coordination to overcome this emergency together.”

Sources in Sánchez's socialist government were somewhat more candid, describing the Paiporta protests as “a far-right and anti-political show.”

Spain's Transport Minister Óscar Puente admitted that the visit may have come at the wrong time.

“Maybe it wasn’t the best time,” he told Spanish TV channel La Sexta. “There is a lot of anger and people feeling abandoned… and then there is the activity of some people who are on the far right.”

King Felipe, who insisted on continuing the visit, said he appreciated the level of people's anger.

“You have to understand the anger and frustration of many people at all they have been through, but also the difficulty of understanding how all the mechanisms work in emergency operations,” he said on Sunday.

Mayors of the affected communities have asked officials to send help as quickly as possible.

“We are very angry and devastated,” said Guillermo Luján, the mayor of Aldaia. “We have a city in ruins. We have to start over and I'm begging for help. Please help us.”