Thousands
call for Valencia’s leader to resign over deadly floods response
About
130,000 Spaniards protest against perceived failings by Carlos Mazón’s regional
government
Cash Boyle
Sat 9 Nov
2024 21.52 CET
Spaniards
have taken to the streets of Valencia to demand the resignation of the regional
president who led the emergency response to the recent catastrophic floods that
killed more than 200 people.
Floods that
began on the night of 29 October have left 220 dead and nearly 80 people still
missing.
Residents
are protesting over the way the incident was handled, with regional leader
Carlos Mazón under immense pressure after his administration failed to issue
alerts to citizens’ mobile phones until hours after the flooding started.
The
Valencian government has been criticised for not adequately preparing despite
the State Meteorological Agency warning five days before the floods that there
could be an unprecedented rainstorm.
Tens of
thousands of people made their dismay known by marching in the city on
Saturday. The official attendance was estimated to be about 130,000.
Some
protesters clashed with riot police in front of Valencia’s city hall at the
start of their march to the seat of the regional government, with police using
batons to push them back.
Many
marchers held up homemade signs or chanted “Mazón resign” Others carried signs
with messages such as “You killed us”. One banner read: “Our hands are stained
with mud, yours with blood.”
Some
demonstrators dumped muddy boots outside the council building in protest.
Earlier on
Saturday, Mazón told regional broadcaster À Punt that “there will be time to
hold officials accountable” but that now “is time to keep cleaning our streets,
helping people and rebuilding”.
He said that
he “respected” the march. Mazón, of the conservative Popular party, is also
being criticised for what people perceive as the slow and chaotic response to
the floods.
Thousands of
volunteers were the first boots on the ground in many of the hardest-hit areas
on Valencia’s southern outskirts. It took days for officials to mobilise the
thousands of police reinforcements and soldiers that the regional government
asked central authorities to send.
Concern
about the risk of flooding in the region is not new. Members of Compromís, a
leftwing alliance in the Valencian regional parliament, presented a proposal
designed to tackle the issue in September 2023, but it was voted down by the
government.
Eva Saldaña
of Greenpeace Spain has suggested that oil and gas companies “foot the bill”
for this natural disaster, arguing that those industries have known about the
climate crisis for more than six decades.
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