Around 100,000 people marched on Saturday to protest against the authorities’ handling of Spain’s floods in Valencia, whose eastern region bore the brunt of the tragedy’s 230 deaths.
The protest followed a series of rallies marking a month’s passing since the disaster, the nation’s worst in a generation.
The protest was also the second major march of its kind asking for the Valencia regional president Carlos Mazón to step down. He has refused to do so while making changes to his cabinet and appointing a retired general to lead the clean-up effort. ALSO READ: Over 130,000 march in Valencia to protest handling of deadly floods.
Both the central and regional governments have come under fire for the response to the 29 October catastrophe, which wrecked homes, shops and swept away cars by the thousands.
Chanting slogans calling for Mazón – accused of raising the alarm too late – to resign or face jail, the demonstrators marched through Valencia’s city centre.
Many citizens and flood survivors are angry for what they consider the negligent or inept handling of the flash floods that created major flooding on 29-30 October. At least 230 people died, while thousands of homes and vehicles were destroyed or ruined.
Telephone alerts reached some residents when water was already surging through the streets, while several municipalities went for days without state help and had to rely on volunteers for food, water and cleaning equipment.
For the time being, Mazón has ruled out resigning. ALSO READ: Regional president of Valencia admits to ‘mistakes’ in handling flood disaster, but refuses to resign.
The demonstrators also criticised the central government of socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, accused of not being more decisive in its handling of the response.
‘These politicians are killing the people,’ one of the posters at Saturday’s march read.
Disaster management is the regional administrations’ responsibility in Spain’s highly decentralised system, but the central government is allowed to furnish regions with resources and even take control in extreme cases.
Mocking the alert issued by Valencia 12 hours after Spain’s weather agency (AEMET) raised the rain and flood alarm to the highest level, the demonstrators blared out alarms from their phones and broke out into chants of ‘murderers, murderers’.
El País Valencià persisteix als carrers malgrat que Mazón mire cap a una altra banda.
Milers de persones tornen a omplir els carrers de València per demanar la dimissió de Carlos Mazón i que vaja a la presó! #SomPaísValencià pic.twitter.com/3OW1I1VMDF
— Som Països Catalans (@Som_PPCC) December 1, 2024
Nueva manifestación en Valencia para protestar contra la gestión de la DANA y pedir la dimisión de Carlos Mazón
La última hora, desde @rtvevalencia, con Miguel Francés. https://t.co/1YKsdA9ocs pic.twitter.com/vYgK8cuQo1
— RTVE Noticias (@rtvenoticias) November 30, 2024
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