OVIEDO: Around 100,000 poured onto the streets of the Spanish city of Valencia Saturday to protest the government’s handling of last month’s deadly floods.
“One month later, and our towns and cities are still destroyed. The regional government is morally and ethically incapable of handling the reconstruction,” Anna Oliver, a spokesperson for the march, told the media.
On Oct. 29, historic rainfall triggered flash floods in several parts of Spain, but the province of Valencia was hit the hardest.
In what is now deemed the worst natural disaster in Spain’s modern history, at least 222 people died in Valencia, while eight others died in other regions.
Authorities are still searching for the bodies of four missing people.
This is the second massive protest targeting the regional government of Valencia, with the main demand being for the President of Valencia, Carlos Mazon, to step down.
An estimated 130,000 people attended the first protest, according to government figures.
Mazon is bearing the brunt of the anger because his government failed to alert citizens about the floods until it was too late. Many people died after being caught off guard by the rapid flooding while driving, in ground-floor apartments, or even while attempting to move their cars from parking lots.
It later emerged that he was having a long lunch on the day of the floods and arrived two hours late to the emergency meeting, according to Spanish media reports.
“He has not asked for forgiveness or provided any reasonable explanation for what happened that day,” Oliver added.
Much of the criticism is also leveled at the slow response time.
Thousands of children still have not been able to return to school, and many basements and garages remain filled with mud and debris, along with a smell that grows more putrid each day.
Others complain that not enough aid has reached the victims.
Protesters also slammed the awarding of reconstruction contracts to companies previously involved in corruption scandals and the government’s move to remove the cap on their own wages.
Spain’s central government was also criticized in the protest’s manifesto, which accused it of failing to intervene or pressure the Valencian government when faced with its “inaction.”
Earlier on Saturday, around 5,000 firefighters protested in Madrid over a lack of government coordination in emergency situations like the floods.
