Thousands of people demonstrated in the city of Valencia, Spain, this Saturday (9), in protest against the regional authorities’ management of the floods that left at least 220 people dead, in what became one of the worst natural disasters in Europe in decades.
Protesters demanded the resignation of the leader of the regional government, Carlos Mazon, and shouted “murderers!” during an event in the city center, whose region was most affected by the chubas. According to city hall, 130,000 people participated in the protest.
“Our hands are stained with mud, yours with blood,” read one banner. Some protesters threw dirty boots in front of the government building, while others covered it in mud.
The protesters also did not spare criticism of the federal government, led by socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
There were also demonstrations in other cities, such as Alicante, Elche and Madrid. The main accusations against politicians are that they did not clearly warn citizens about the level of rain that was approaching, and that they reacted late to help the population of the almost 80 municipalities affected.
In Valencia, residents of the affected areas accuse Mazon of having issued an alert too late, at 8pm on October 29, after water was flooding many nearby towns and villages.
Valencian leader Carlos Mazon – from the conservative Popular Party, which opposes the government – said he would have raised an alarm sooner if authorities had been informed of the seriousness of the situation by an official monitoring body.
Although the demonstration was largely peaceful, police responded to stone-throwing protesters at one point. Objects thrown at the Valencia city hall building caused minor damage.
In Spain, disaster management is the responsibility of regional administrations, but the central government can provide resources and take over management in extreme cases.
After storm warnings from the National Weather Service began to be issued from October 25, some municipalities and local bodies raised the alarm before the regional government.
The University of Valencia, for example, told its employees on October 28 not to go to work. Several city halls suspended activities, closed public facilities and asked people to stay at home.
Almost 80 people are still missing in what is the deadliest flooding in a single European country since the 1967 Portuguese floods, which killed around 500 people.
