Protesters demand the resignation of the prime minister of the Valencia region, Carlos Mazón, from the People’s Party (PP), who, according to them, failed to deal with the catastrophic floods. They claimed more than 200 victims last week. More than 80 people are still missing. TASR reports according to EFE and AP agencies.
Demonstrators in the streets of Valencia carry banners with the slogan “Mazon step down”. On the main banner, the head of the regional government is depicted with his head bowed in a reflective vest. It is carried by representatives of municipalities directly affected by devastating floods.
According to AP, Mazón has been since the end of the floods under enormous pressure as the local government did not issue an early flood warning. Citizens were alerted to mobile phones only a few hours after they started. The Prime Minister of Valencia is also criticized for the slow deployment of additional reinforcements from the rescue and security forces, who, according to critics, arrived late.
Mazón defends his procedure in solving the crisis by saying that its scale could not be foreseen. He also claims that his government did not receive warnings from the central authorities. However, Spanish meteorologists issued the highest level of warning several hours before the disaster.
Representatives of the Valencia branch of the PP believe that the demonstration was “politicized” by Catalan nationalist organizations. “They don’t care about the victims, they only care about politics,” the party declared. EFE reminds that the demonstration was organized by several social and civic organizations, including left-wing trade unions.
