On the day that catastrophic floods devastated Spain's Valencia region, which left around 220 people dead, the region’s top official was reportedly at a long lunch until about 6pm, with water already suring suring through towns.
The October floods in Valencia have triggered intense scrutiny of the government’s crisis response, with mounting public anger directed at regional president Carlos Mazon. Although Spain’s national weather agency issued warnings earlier in the day of of severe rainfall, his administration did not send emergency alerts until after 8pm, after the floodwaters had inundated local communities.
Growing public anger came to a head on Saturday when 130,000 people took to the streets of Valencia and called for Mr Mazon’s resignation. Photos of the protest showed signs saying: “You killed us”, and “Our hands are stained with mud, yours with blood.”
Mr Mazon’s office confirmed that he had lunch at a restaurant near the regional government headquarters in Valencia but declined to disclose his dining companion. According to Spanish media, he did not leave the restaurant until 6pm, by which time the town of Utiel was already flooded and the national weather service, Aemet, had issued a red alert. His government’s emergency meeting had started an hour earlier, at 5pm.
Anna Oliver, one of the protest organisers, told the Reuters: “We want to show our indignation and anger over the poor management of this disaster which has affected so many people.”
The region’s vice-president, Susana Camarero, ruled out any immediate resignations, insisting that senior leaders stepping down would be a betrayal of those impacted by the disaster.
She said on Sunday: “This government won’t abandon the victims. This government will be, as it has been from the first day, at the side of the victims. Any resignations at the moment are not an option. They’re not an option. All we can think about is working on the recovery efforts and on repairing the damage that has been done.”
Mr Mazon’s conservative people’s party has called on him to explain his movements. He pledged to provide answers when he appears in parliament this week and said on Monday, according to EuroNews, that “mistakes may have been made.”
He said: “On Thursday I will give political explanations and a statement of the facts with all the details. Everyone did what they could with the information they had. Mistakes may have been made, and we must admit that with humility.”
The Valencian president has previously tried to shift blame onto Spain’s central government and the military emergencies unit (UME), whose personnel have been deployed extensively across the region. Mazon’s colleagues have defended his response, claiming he is taking full responsibility while accusing the central government of failing to assume control of the crisis.
During a visit to Valencia in the immediate aftermath of the floods, King Felipe VI, prime minister Pedro Sanchez, and Mr Mazon faced public outrage in the town of Paiporta, where residents threw mud and hurled insults, frustrated by what they saw as insufficient state support.
Meanwhile heavy rain persists in Spain as the search for the dead and missing continues alongside evacuation orders over fears a new weather front could bring flooding again to the region. Spain’s meteorological agency Aemet issued orange and red alerts for parts of Andalusia, Catalonia, and Valencia, warning that prolonged and intense rainfall could push rivers to dangerous levels, threatening lives and buildings.
