Thousands of Spaniards have marched in the eastern city of Valencia to demand the resignation of the regional president in charge of the emergency response to last week’s catastrophic floods that left more than 200 dead and several others missing.
Some protesters clashed with riot police in front of Valencia’s city hall, where the protesters started their march to the seat of the regional government. Police used batons to beat them back.
Regional leader Carlos Mazon is under immense pressure after his administration failed to issue flood alerts to citizens’ phones until hours after the flooding started on the night of October 29.
Many marchers held up homemade signs or chanted: “Mazon Resign!” Others carried signs with messages such as: “You Killed Us!”
Mr Mazon, of the conservative Popular Party, is also being criticised for what people perceive as the 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 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 in.
In Spain, regional governments are charged with handling civil protection and can ask the national government in Madrid, led by the Socialists, for extra resources.
Mr Mazon has defended his handling of the crisis saying that its magnitude was unforeseeable and that his administration did not receive sufficient warning from central authorities.
But Spain’s weather agency issued a red alert, the highest level of warning, for bad weather as early as 7.30am on Tuesday morning as the disaster loomed.
Some communities were flooded by 6pm on that day. It took until after 8pm for Mr Mazon’s administration to send out alerts to people’s phones.
The death toll stood at 220 on Saturday, with 212 coming in the eastern Valencia region, as the search for bodies goes on.
Thousands of people lost their homes and streets are still covered in mud and debris 11 days after the arrival of a tsunami-like wave following a record deluge.
