Tens of thousands want the resignation of the leader of Valencia because of the poor response to the floods – National
Tens of thousands of Spaniards marched in the eastern city of Valencia on Saturday to demand the resignation of the regional president in charge of the emergency plan for last week's floods that left more than 200 people dead and others missing.
A group of protesters clashed with riot police in front of Valencia's city hall, where protesters began their march to the seat of the regional government. The police used batons to push them back.
Regional leader Carlos Mazón is under intense pressure after his administration failed to issue flood warnings to residents' cellphones until hours after the floods began on the night of October 29.
Many of the marchers carried homemade signs or chanted “Mazón Resign!” Others held signs with messages such as “You killed us!” When they reached the seat of the state government, some protesters threw mud at the building and left traces of mud on its face.
Earlier on Saturday, Mazón told regional broadcaster À Punt that “there will be time to hold officials accountable,” but now “it's time to keep cleaning our streets, help people and rebuild.”
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He said he “respects” the march.
Mazón, of the conservative Popular Party, is also criticized for what people see as a slow and chaotic response to the natural disaster. Thousands of volunteers were the first boots on the ground in many of the hardest-hit areas on the southern outskirts of Valencia. It took days for officials to mobilize thousands of police and military reinforcements that the regional government had asked the authorities to send.
In Spain, regional governments are charged with managing social security and can ask the national government in Madrid, led by the Socialists, for more resources.
Mazón has defended his handling of the crisis saying that its magnitude was unexpected and that his administration did not receive adequate warnings from central authorities.
But Spain's weather agency issued a red alert, the highest level of warning, for severe weather at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday morning as disaster looms.
Some communities were flooded by 6 p.m. It took until 8 p.m. for Mazón officials to send alerts to people's cellphones.
Mazón was with the Spanish prime minister and the Socialist prime minister when they were pelted with mud by angry residents during a visit to the devastated area last weekend.
Sara Sánchez Gurillo attended the demonstration because she lost her brother-in-law, Candido Molina Pulgarín, 62. She said his body was found in an orange grove after the water was blocked in her house in the city of Cheste, west of Valencia.
He wanted Mazón to leave, but he also had harsh words for the country's leaders.
“It's a shame what happened,” said Sánchez. “They knew the sky was going to fall but they didn't warn anyone. They did not evacuate people. We want them to resign!”
“The central government should have taken over. They should have sent the army earlier. The king should have made them send it. Why do we want him as a symbolic figure? You are useless. People are alone. They abandoned us.”
The death toll stood at 220 victims on Saturday, with 212 in the eastern region of Valencia, as the search for bodies continued.
Thousands more lost their homes and roads are still littered with mud and debris 11 days after the tsunami-like wave that followed the record-breaking flood.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
