Floods in Spain: regional president admits “errors” but refuses to resign

Admitting "errors", but ruling out d" To resign, the president of the Spanish region of Valencia justified at length his decision. Friday his actions during the deadly floods of October 29, also criticizing the central government of Pedro Sanchez and the organizations that depend on it.

“I'm not going to deny (that there were) mistakes,” said Carlos Mazón, a member of the Popular Party (PP, conservative right), during a speech of almost two and a half hours given at the regional parliament of Valencia (southeast), in front of which a hundred demonstrators chanted “Liar!” and “Assassin!”.

“I want to apologize” to the people who “felt that the aid was not arriving or was not enough,” Mazón said during this speech intended to give an account of his reaction to this unprecedented crisis, whose provisional death toll on Friday was 224, including 216 in the Valencia region alone.

Men in protective suits walk in a mud-covered street after a flood, in Paiporta (eastern Spain), on November 13, 2024 © AFP – JOSE JORDAN

“I'm not going to evade any responsibility,” he assured, indirectly criticizing the government of socialist Pedro Sánchez by castigating “those who hide behind interpretations of regulatory powers and the small print of regulations and laws to avoid self-criticism.”

“I think we have done our self-criticism, I have not heard you make the slightest reproach, even minimal, to the central government of Spain, to its organizations”, he then retorted to the criticisms of the left-wing opposition that followed his speech.

“I assume my responsibility, but now I expect Pedro Sánchez (…) to live up to it”, he said, announcing moreover that his party had requested the creation of a commission of inquiry in the regional parliament.

– “The worst floods since 1962” –

Since the floods of October 29, the reaction of Mr. Mazón and his regional administration – in the management of the alert as well as in that of the relief – has been castigated by many victims. 130,000 people marched in Valencia last Saturday to criticize the authorities, in particular Mr. Mazón.

The latter had also been attacked by a crowd of demonstrators in the town of Paiporta, near Valencia, on November 3, during a very tense visit by King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, accompanied by Pedro Sánchez.

In Spain, a highly decentralized country, disaster management is the responsibility of the regions, but the central government, responsible for issuing alerts via Aemet (National Meteorological Agency), can provide resources and take control in extreme cases.

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Police stand guard next to a woman holding a placard that insults Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and demands his resignation, outside the regional parliament in Valencia, Spain, on November 15, 2024 © AFP – JOSE JORDAN

Giving a very long and detailed account of all the events of the day of October 29, Mr. Mazón recalled that that day had been “the worst floods that Spain has suffered since 1962”, suggesting that no one could have predicted a disaster of such magnitude.

The president of the Valencia region (Spain), Carlos Mazon, arrives at a crisis meeting of the regional government on October 31, 2024 in L'Eliana (Spain) © AFP – Manaure Quintero

It was only after 8:00 p.m., more than 12 hours after the first red alert launched by Aemet, that its services had sent a message to residents' mobile phones message asking them to stay at home or return home without delay.

But by that time, many towns were already flooded, their residents had water up to their knees or waists and hundreds of people were stuck on the roads in their vehicles. Many could not be saved.

– “Fragmented” information –

Referring to this red alert from Aemet, Mr. Mazón minimized its importance, saying that this type of alert had “occurred 36 times in the last 10 years without any of them being followed by sudden floods like those” of last month.

“Many of these alerts did not even result in significant flooding,” he added, deploring, in addition, “fragmented, inaccurate and late” information on the day of the disaster and pointing the finger in particular at an agency dependent on the central government and responsible for monitoring the flow of the Jucar, a local river.

A person holds up a sign reading “20:12 too late! Mazon in prison” during of a demonstration demanding the resignation of regional president Carlos Mazon in front of the regional parliament in Valencia (Spain), on November 15, 2024 © AFP – JOSE JORDAN

After her intervention, the regional spokesperson for Mr. Sánchez's Socialist Party proposed the formation of a “technical” government to carry out the reconstruction, assuring that the socialists would support it if Mr. Mazón resigned.

In his responses, the latter rejected this solution: “I want to assume my responsibility (…) and lead this reconstruction with all my determination. And if I am not able to lead the reconstruction that Valencia needs, I will assume the political consequences personally, by not standing again” in the next regional elections, scheduled for 2027.

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