The disaster began on October 29 when torrential rains hit the eastern region of Valencia, with some areas receiving a year’s worth of rain in just a few hours.
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Authorities in Valencia have ruled out any imminent resignation from the regional government, as anger continues to grow over the response to catastrophic floods, which have left at least 222 people dead.
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated Saturday evening in Valencia, accusing the regional government of having sent alerts the public too slowly on the dangers of flooding.
A group of demonstrators, demanding the resignation of the regional president Carlos Mazónclashed with riot police in front of City Hall, where the rally began, and police used batons to push them back.
The EFE news agency said at least 31 police officers were injured, but did not provide information on the number of injured civilians.
The vice-president of the region, Susana Camarerosaid no one would resign as Spain recovers from its worst natural disaster in decades, saying that would amount to betraying the victims.
“Given the scale of the disaster and the damage inflicted on cities and people, we cannot abandon the victims” she said.
“This government will not abandon the victims. This government will be, as it has been since day one, alongside the victims“.
Mazón said he would provide answers when he appeared before Parliament later this week, but some accused him of stalling and refusing to take responsibility for the crisis after having initially tried to point the finger at the Spanish socialist government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
“I will provide political explanations and provide a detailed account of events on Thursday” he said.
Spain’s central government insists that the response to the disaster is entirely the responsibility of Mazón and not Madrid, as the emergency situation has been classified as Level 2 and relief efforts are therefore the responsibility of regional authorities .
This is not the first display of anger in the region: members of the royal family, Prime Minister Sánchez and a number of regional leaders have had mud thrown at them by angry crowds when they went to the municipality of Paiporta last week.
Meanwhile, Spain’s national weather agency AEMET has issued an alert that a cold air mass from northern Europe could cause heavy rain in the coming days, or even create a new isolated depression, called DANA in Spain.
Heavy and persistent rain is expected from Tuesday on Spain’s northern Mediterranean coast, including the Balearic Islands.
The extent of the damage in the region is not known, but the Spanish Consortium for Insurance Compensation, a public-private entity that pays insurance compensation for extreme risks such as flooding, estimates that it will have to pay at least 3.5 billion euros.
