While rescue teams, civil guards and the military continue to search the rubble and waters for some 90 missing people, the floods in Valencia, which have caused more than 200 victims, are also occupying the political arena. According to the prefecture, at least 130,000 angry demonstrators marched to the center of the city on Saturday, November 9, to demand the resignation of regional president Carlos Mazón, accused of “ negligence “.
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THE president of the Valencia regionCarlos Mazón, is in a very bad position. At the heart of a huge demonstration, punctuated by clashes with the police, the anger is obvious against the liberal leader. We believe that he was not up to the situation, reports our correspondent in Madrid, Francois Musseau.
“ Assassins, assassins ! “, chanted the demonstrators in this city in the south-east of Spain. The participants met at the end of the day on the main square, in front of the Valence town hall, to walk the kilometer that separates it from the headquarters of the regional government. They demanded in particular: resignation » by Carlos Mazón, member of the right-wing Popular Party. But the socialist Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, was not spared either by critics.
Two hours late for a crucial meeting, due to lunch at a restaurant
On the day of the tragedy and the worst flooding in half a century, October 29, Carlos Mazón ignored the red alert issued by the Spanish Meteorological Agency. This, from 8 a.m., advised all Valencians not to leave their homes, except in cases of extreme necessity. Furthermore, he did not take any emergency measures.
Worse, the president of the region would have waited for two hours at the restaurant, with a journalist. Finally, he arrived two hours late, at 7 p.m., for a crucial meeting of the relief coordination committee.
Carlos Mazón defended himself by saying that the tragedy only really began in the evening. But according to the demonstrators, reality says something else: by 7 p.m., many municipalities were already under water and were already reporting victims and immense material damage. Whether or not this will have political consequences remains to be seen.
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“ Manslaughter »
Among the accusations also made by the victims, the fact that the entire population was only alerted via their mobile phones in the evening, when many areas were already submerged. The region’s main emergency manager, Salomé Pradas, admitted Thursday, November 7, that she was unaware of the existence of this alert system, before retracting her statement.
For Julián García, “ Mazón’s management has been indecent and he should resign “. “ The Valencian government is responsible and did not want to ask what it could ask from the central government, also a little responsible », Estimates the 73-year-old retiree. Ana de la Rosa regrets the “ political wars, when it was not the time, because the citizens needed help and did not have it “. This 30-year-old archivist claims “ justice » for what she describes as “manslaughter “.
Rallies also took place in several other Spanish cities, such as Madrid and Alicante.
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