Clean-up from the catastrophic flooding that devastated several towns, including the city of Valencia, and wreaked havoc further inland is still underway. At the same time, discontent continues to mount against Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his government as details emerge showing their failures to warn the population of the danger of flooding and deal with the aftermath.
On Sunday, approximately 130,000 people took to the streets in Valencia to express their disgust with the government. The demonstration was organized by leftist groups, La Razón reports, and was initially intended as a silent gathering in honor of the dead but the crowd erupted in anger, shouting “Murderers!”
They marched from the city hall to the headquarters of the regional government where they placed mud-covered boots and a red t-shirt at the doorstep. Some protestors became violent, attempting to burn the door and force their way in. Police made several arrests.
The demonstrators also called for the resignation of Carlos Mazón, the president of the Valencia region.
Mazón has been locked in a battle of blame with Spain’s environment minister Teresa Ribera since Spanish media revealed that, while the livelihoods and lives of many Valencians were being carried away by the water on the night of October 29, Mazón was dining with a journalist. Ribera claimed to have made four calls to the regional president that night to offer help. Mazón claims Ribera only sent him a single text message which he published on social media. Ribera has made no response. The central government left the emergency management completely in the hands of the regional government, a move that analysts say was both a political calculation to avoid blame and illegal under Spanish law.
VOX has also filed a complaint accusing Sánchez, several government ministers including Ribera, and and the president of the meteorological service of imprudent manslaughter for the failure to alert the public of the grave danger of flash flooding.
Ribera faces the EU Parliament on Tuesday as she attempts to gain a seat on the European Commission. Ribera will likely face some tough questions from the opposition Spanish MEPs on her government’s response to the flooding and her role as minister in particular. The ministry she technically still heads in Spain—though her presence has been noticeably scarce since summer—is responsible for two of the agencies with responsibilities related to the recent historic flash floods in Spain that left at least 200 people dead.
