Thousands in Valencia protest to leave Mazón after floods

Tens of thousands of protesters gathered, last Saturday (9), in the city of Valencia, to protest against the regional government’s actions in the floods that killed more than 220 people and to call for the resignation of the president of the Valencian Community, Carlos Mazón. The demonstration, with the motto “Mazón dismissal”, was called by 40 social organizations and unions.

“We are stained with mud, but you are stained with blood”, “Mazón, resign” and “Mazón in prison” were some of the phrases written by the protesters on posters and banners. Although the demonstration registered criticism of the central government, led by the socialist Pedro Sánchez, the anger was concentrated against the Valencian executive, led by the conservative Popular Party (PP).

According to the Lusa agency, the protest had violent incidents in front of the city’s City Hall, where a group of young people threw mud. The police reacted with riot police. Later, at the end of the demonstration and in the vicinity of Plaza de la Virgen, mud, chairs and other objects were again thrown at police officers, who repressed the protesters.

Local media – citing government information – reported that around 130,000 people participated in the protest. According to the Lusa agency, three protesters were arrested and 30 police officers were injured during the riots.

Government critics say the authorities’ response to the worst natural disaster the region has seen in decades has been too slow.

The floods, which began at the end of October, caused a year’s worth of rain to fall in the region in less than 8 hours. The rain rushed down rivers and tributaries toward the Mediterranean Sea, washing away cars and destroying bridges along the way.

🚨This is how Valencia shouts!!.🚨
📢📢Mazón resigns, come out of hiding!.📢📢#MazonDimissio #MazonResignation pic.twitter.com/4maALnLyMG

— Domingo 🔻 (@izualdomingo) November 9, 2024

“The regional government did not warn in time about the floods, it did not respond in time,” a protester told Reuters. “Therefore, we want them to resign and let the new government take responsibility for cleaning up the mess they left.”

Another protester said: “The only thing I want to say is that this institutional abandonment and negligence must be held accountable.”

Mazón claimed that he was not warned sufficiently in advance of the severity of the rain by central authorities, while the Spanish government claims that it tried to call Mazón at least four times before managing to contact him.

The regional president, who according to some Spanish media reports was in a restaurant during the floods, denied having lost any connection before the floods became catastrophic.

The Spanish government and local agencies continue to search for more than 70 people who remain missing. More than 8,400 soldiers are taking part in the effort, according to the Spanish government, along with divers searching near the coast of Valencia.

The Spanish meteorological agency, Aemet, issued a red alert for bad weather at 7:30 am on Tuesday, as a catastrophe was imminent. Some municipalities were flooded at 6:00 pm while the Mazón administration waited until 8:00 pm to send alerts to citizens’ cell phones.

Thousands of people have lost their homes and the streets remain covered in mud and debris, 11 days after an unprecedented deluge that broke several rainfall records, according to experts.