Thousands call for Valencia’s leader to resign over deadly floods response

About 130,000 Spaniards protest against perceived failings by Carlos Mazón’s regional government

Spaniards have taken to the streets of Valencia to demand the resignation of the regional president who led the emergency response to the recent catastrophic floods that killed more than 200 people.

Floods that began on the night of 29 October have left 220 dead and nearly 80 people still missing.

Residents are protesting over the way the incident was handled, with regional leader Carlos Mazón under immense pressure after his administration failed to issue alerts to citizens’ mobile phones until hours after the flooding started.

The Valencian government has been criticised for not adequately preparing despite the State Meteorological Agency warning five days before the floods that there could be an unprecedented rainstorm.

Tens of thousands of people made their dismay known by marching in the city on Saturday. The official attendance was estimated to be about 130,000.

Some protesters clashed with riot police in front of Valencia’s city hall at the start of their march to the seat of the regional government, with police using batons to push them back.

Many marchers held up homemade signs or chanted “Mazón resign” Others carried signs with messages such as “You killed us”. One banner read: “Our hands are stained with mud, yours with blood.”

Earlier on Saturday, Mazón told regional broadcaster À Punt that “there will be time to hold officials accountable” but that now “is time to keep cleaning our streets, helping people and rebuilding”.

He said that he “respected” the march. Mazón, of the conservative Popular party, is also being criticised for what people perceive as the slow and chaotic response to the floods.

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.

Concern about the risk of flooding in the region is not new. Members of Compromís, a leftwing alliance in the Valencian regional parliament, presented a proposal designed to tackle the issue in September 2023, but it was voted down by the government.

Eva Saldaña of Greenpeace Spain has suggested that oil and gas companies “foot the bill” for this natural disaster, arguing that those industries have known about the climate crisis for more than six decades.

Cover photo: Demonstrators gathered outside Valencia’s city hall. Photograph: Biel Aliño/EPA