A Spanish lawyer and influencer filming videos in flood-ravaged Valencia for a news segment has been slammed after a clip emerged of him deliberately covering his knees with mud for the report.
Ruben Gisbert, from Valencia, was visiting flood-hit parts of the region while filming clips for Horizonte, a news programme directed and presented by Spanish journalist Iker Jimenez.
But an onlooker recording the scene from the window of their apartment caught the moment Gisbert took a few steps back and knelt down to make sure his legs were covered in dirt before returning to say his piece to camera.
Gisbert, who describes himself as a 'practising lawyer and freedom revolutionary', took to social media to point out his move was simply for continuity purposes, claiming he wanted to ensure his appearance would match an earlier shot so the programme could be presented as if it were live.
But enraged flood victims and commentators online have described the filming trick as 'shameful'.
Horizonte's Jimenez also released a video declaring he had never asked Gisbert to 'dramatise something' for the camera and said the influencer will no longer be allowed to collaborate with the programme for the 'stupid' behaviour.
Ruben Gisbert, from Valencia, was visiting flood hit parts of the region while filming clips for Horizonte
An onlooker caught the moment Gisbert took a few steps back and knelt down to make sure his legs were covered in dirt before returning to say his piece to camera
In the wake of the criticism, Gisbert shared his own video to social media entitled 'THIS IS WHAT I DID AND THIS IS WHAT I'M DOING, PLEASE SHARE'. He apologised for his actions but also appeared irritated by the vitriol which he clearly felt was unwarranted
View of several cars in a flooded area of Paiporta, Valencia, after heavy rain and flooding
People help clean, following heavy rains that caused floods, in Paiporta, near Valencia, Spain, November 4, 2024
The video of Gisbert's behind-the-scenes trick was shared widely on social media and sparked a major backlash.
'How shameless, how little respect and empathy for people who have lost everything,' one person said.
'You've been there for days, telling stories, giving people a voice... and you have to get dirty like a f***ing scavenger? What's the point? Go f*** yourself, vulture,' another raged.
Others pointed to the video as yet more evidence of attempts by media and politicians to manipulate people.
Much of Valencia is still reeling almost a week after the floods swept through and devastated communities, with other storm systems now pelting Barcelona with torrential rain.
The official death toll from last week's flooding stands at 217, but there are fears it will continue to increase with many people still missing and hopes of finding survivors are ebbing.
Almost all the deaths have been in the Valencia region, where thousands of security and emergency services frantically cleared debris and mud in the search for bodies.
With telephone and transport networks severely damaged, establishing a precise figure of missing people is difficult.
In the wake of the criticism, Gisbert shared his own video to social media entitled 'THIS IS WHAT I DID AND THIS IS WHAT I'M DOING, PLEASE SHARE'.
He apologised for his actions but also appeared irritated by the vitriol which he clearly felt was unwarranted.
As the torrent of criticism mounted, Gisbert released a written statement in which he sought only to apologise and did not try to explain his position
'Did I do it for you to see mud on my knees despite the fact I've spent seven days covered in mud? Yes, that's why I did it.
'Why? Because the first video we took we had filmed when I went inside the garage with mud up to my knees... so I can't appear in the second video without mud on my knees if I'm supposed to be coming from a garage.
'I did that so you couldn't tell that we weren't live,' he said.
'I'm sorry... I didn't think people would have been so on top of me, filming me, watching me and orchestrating this,' he added, arguing he had good intentions and was in Valencia to contribute to clean-up and aid efforts.
'It's invalidating what I'm doing, it's invalidating who I am. I am a loyal person, I do things correctly, I've never stolen from anyone ever in my life and I've been here working hard since the first f*** day. That's all.'
As the torrent of criticism mounted, he released a written statement in which he sought only to apologise and did not try to explain his actions.
'Friends, I have done something stupid. I have learned an important lesson… A painful lesson in a very difficult context that I could never have imagined.'
MailOnline attempted to contact Gisbert for comment via email and his website but was unable to reach him.
A man sits on the street after heavy rain and flooding hit large parts of the country on November 04, 2024 in Paiporta, Spain
Civil Guards walk in a flooded indoor car park to check cars for bodies after floods near Valencia, Spain, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024
People help to clean, following heavy rains that caused floods, in Paiporta, near Valencia, Spain, November 4, 2024
Jimenez meanwhile went out of his way to distance himself from the backlash, praising Gisbert for his efforts in Valencia but ultimately labelling his behaviour as stupid and declaring he could 'no longer count on him' and had 'been failed' by the influencer.
'I have never forced anyone to cover themselves in mud to dramatise something... For what? I don't understand. You were already covered in mud. I don't understand.
'I'm frankly quite disgusted - we didn't tell him to do that. I've spoken to him and I still can't understand it,' Jimenez said.
'I've told him I can't count on you, you've failed me. What need was there to exaggerate in the midst of all of this drama?'
However, other media figures in Spain sprung to Gisbert's defence.
Presenter Maria Patino stated she had 'verified' that Gisbert had spent all week in his native Valencia contributing to aid and rescue efforts and was 'on the frontline' of the disaster working hard in service of those affected.
'It is a shame... he has handled (the situation) badly, because he has manipulated a reality.
'But he has been working hard there for seven days and I have been able to verify that it is true,' said the presenter.
'We focus on a scene, but behind that scene, there is a guy I don't know at all, who also declares himself a political activist. I don't care about his ideology, but he is there at the forefront,' she concluded.
Meanwhile, in Valencia, the search continues for bodies inside houses and thousands of wrecked cars strewn in the streets, on highways, and in canals that channelled last week's floods into populated areas.
Salvadora Ortiz Cavanilla, 68, reacts as she explains how her house filled with water, following heavy rains that caused floods, in Paiporta, near Valencia, Spain, November 4, 2024
Spain's King Felipe has been heckled and had mud thrown at him by furious local during his visit to Valencia, where more than 200 people died in devastating floods
King Felipe's visit to Paiporta was accompanied by shouting from enraged locals
Spain's interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said that authorities can still not give a reliable estimate of the missing.
Spanish national television RTVE, however, has broadcast pleas for help by several desperate people whose loved ones are unaccounted for.
In the Aldaia municipality, some 50 soldiers, police and firefighters, some wearing wetsuits, searched in a huge shopping centre's underground car park for possible victims.
They used a small boat and spotlights to move around in the huge structure with vehicles submerged in at least a metre of murky water.
Police spokesman Ricardo Gutierrez told reporters that so far some 50 vehicles had been found and no bodies had been discovered there.
The Bonaire shopping mall's 1,800 underground parking spaces quickly filled with water and mud on Tuesday and Wednesday when the southern outskirts of Valencia were hit by a tsunami-like flooding.
The team is using four pumps to remove the water.
Citizens, volunteers and thousands of soldiers and police officers pressed on with their gargantuan clean-up effort to clear out mud and debris.
Many people feel abandoned by authorities, their anger erupting on Sunday when a crowd tossed mud at Spain's royal couple, the prime minister and regional leaders as they made their first visit to Paiporta, where over 60 people died and the survivors have lost their homes and still don't have drinking water.
