Tens of thousands of Spaniards demonstrated in the eastern city of Valencia on Saturday to demand the resignation of the regional president in charge of the emergency response to last week’s events. Catastrophic floods Which left more than 200 dead and others missing.
A group of demonstrators clashed with riot police in front of Valencia City Hall, as demonstrators began their march to the regional government headquarters. The police used batons to repel them.
Regional leader Carlos Mazón is under enormous pressure after his administration failed to issue flood alerts to citizens’ cell phones until… Hours after the floods started Night of October 29th.
Many protesters held homemade signs or chanted “Mazzone resign!” Others carried signs reading, “You killed us!” Upon their arrival at the regional government headquarters, some demonstrators threw mud at the building and left mud prints on its facade.
Earlier on Saturday, Mazzone told regional radio A Pont that “there will be time to hold those responsible accountable,” but now “it is time to continue cleaning our streets, helping people and rebuilding.”
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He said he “respects” the march.
Mazzone, from the conservative Popular Party, has also been criticized for what people see as a slow and chaotic response to the natural disaster. There were thousands of volunteers First shoes on the ground In many of the worst affected areas in the southern suburbs of Valencia. It took days for officials to mobilize the thousands of police and soldier reinforcements that the regional government had asked the central authorities to send.
In Spain, regional governments are responsible for handling civil protection, and can ask the national government in Madrid, led by the Socialists, for additional resources.
Mazzone defended his handling of the crisis, saying that its size was not expected and that his administration did not receive sufficient warnings from the central authorities.
But Spain’s meteorological agency issued a red warning, the highest level of alert, for severe weather as early as 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday as the disaster approached.
Some communities were flooded by 6 p.m. It took until after 8 p.m. for Mazzone management to send alerts to people’s cell phones.
Mazzone was with the Spanish royals and the Socialist Prime Minister when they were Throwing mud By angry residents during their first visit to a devastated area last weekend.
Sara Sanchez Gorillo attended the protest because she lost her 62-year-old brother-in-law, Candido Molina Bulgarin. She said that his body was found in a field of orange trees after water surrounded him in his home in the town of Chiste, west of Valencia.
She wanted Mazzone gone, but she also had harsh words for the country’s leaders.
“What happened is shameful,” Sanchez said. “They knew the sky was going to fall, yet they did not warn anyone. They did not evacuate people. We want them to resign.”
“The central government should have taken charge. They should have sent the army earlier. The king should have made them send it. Why do we want him as a token figure? He is worthless. The people are alone. They have abandoned us.”
The death toll reached 220 victims on Saturday, including 212 in the eastern Valencia region, with the death toll increasing. The search for bodies continues.
Thousands more have lost their homes, and streets remain covered in mud and debris 11 days after a tsunami-like wave arrived following a record deluge.
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
