Relatives of the victims, who accuse him of having failed in managing the catastrophe of October 2024.
(FOLHAPRESS) – The president of the Valencia region (equivalent to governor), Carlos Mazón, announced this Monday (3) his resignation from office, a year after the floods that left 229 people dead and caused billions of euros in damage in eastern Spain. The decision comes after months of pressure, especially from victims’ families, who accuse him of having failed in managing the October 2024 catastrophe.
“I can’t do it anymore. […] I know I made mistakes, I admit it, and I will have to live with them for the rest of my life”, said Mazón, from the conservative Popular Party (PP), in a statement to the press.
Although he admitted failures, Mazón attributed part of the responsibility to the lack of support from the central government, led by socialist premier Pedro Sánchez, and to errors by national organizations, including the meteorological agency Aemet and the department responsible for the region’s hydrological network linked to the Ministry of Energy. According to him, these bodies did not warn about the severity of the storm, the biggest of the century in the country, adequately.
The disaster, which occurred on October 29, 2024, was the worst flooding event in Europe since 1967. Torrential rain flooded neighborhoods south of the city of Valencia, taking residents by surprise.
Many drowned inside buildings that were already submerged when the regional government sent the first warnings. Experts point out that a series of failures, such as the lack of containment works, educational measures and rapid communication, worsened the impact of the tragedy.
In November last year, a few days after the catastrophe, the population of Paiporta, one of the places most affected by the floods in Valencia, even threw stones and mud at Mazón, who was visiting the place alongside King Felipe 6th, Queen Letizia and Sánchez.
During the last state funeral held in honor of the victims, Mazón was booed and called a murderer by family members, who accused him of having been absent during the critical hours of the disaster. When the floods began, he was having lunch with journalist Maribel Vilaplana and did not speak to the population for around six hours.
The episode fueled rumors that Mazón had a personal involvement with the reporter, which he denied. The politician stated that the meeting was professional in nature, as he intended to invite her to take up a position on Valencian public television, although he initially omitted lunch in his explanations.
The journalist would give testimony this Monday to the judge investigating the tragedy and the possible criminal liability of the authorities. Relatives of the victims accompanied her arrival at the court, and one of the people shouted: “Tell the whole truth, for them”.
Mazón stated that he only did not resign sooner because he felt obliged to lead the reconstruction process. He did not clarify whether he would call early elections or who would take over the government on an interim basis.
In a statement, the Popular Party reported that its national leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, would hold a press conference this Monday to comment on the case.
The president of the main victims’ association, Rosa Álvarez, called the resignation speech “painful and useless”. “He continues to repeat lies and try to put himself in the role of victim,” he told SER radio.
Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said Sánchez’s government has already made €8.2 billion in direct aid available for Valencia’s recovery. He also criticized Mazón, his political opponent, by saying that the resignation came too late and that the regional leader should have called early elections.
The catastrophic floods were caused by a meteorological phenomenon known locally as Dana (isolated high-level depression, its Spanish acronym), in which cold and warm air meet and produce powerful rain clouds, a pattern believed to be becoming more frequent due to climate change.
