The president of the Spanish region of Valencia on Friday justified at length his action during the deadly floods of October 29, admitting “errors”, without sparing the central government of Pedro Sánchez.
“I'm not going to deny (that there were) mistakes,” said Carlos Mazón, member of the Popular Party (PP, conservative right), during a speech lasting nearly two and a half hours in the regional parliament of Valencia (east), in front of which around a hundred demonstrators demanded his resignation – a solution which he rejected – with cries of “Liar” and “Assassin”.
“As president of the +Generalitat+ (regional government), I want to apologize” to the people who had “the feeling that the aid was not arriving or was not sufficient,” Carlos Mazón said during of this speech intended to report on his reaction to this unprecedented crisis, the provisional toll of which was 224 dead on Friday, including 216 in the Valencia region alone.
| © AFP Men in protective suits walk on a street covered in mud after a flood, in Paiporta (eastern Spain), November 13, 2024 |
“I am not going to evade any responsibility,” assured Mr. Mazón, criticizing in a veiled manner the government of Pedro Sánchez by castigating “those who hide behind interpretations on regulatory powers and the fine print of regulations and laws so as not to self-criticism.
“A before and an after”
Since the floods of October 29, the reaction of Mr. Mazón and his regional administration, both in the management of the alert and in that of relief, has been criticized by many victims. 130,000 people marched in Valencia last Saturday to criticize the authorities, Mr. Mazón in particular.
In Spain, a very decentralized country, disaster management is the responsibility of regional administrations, but the central government, responsible for issuing alerts via Aemet (the national meteorological agency), can provide resources and take responsibility. hand in extreme cases.
| © AFP Police stand guard near a woman carrying a sign that insults Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and demands his resignation, in front of the regional parliament in Valencia (Spain) on November 15, 2024 |
Mr. Mazón was 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, alongside the socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
The regional president began his speech on Friday by recalling that these were “the worst floods that Spain has suffered since 1962”, suggesting that no one could predict a disaster of such importance: “There will be a before and after in our lives and nothing will ever be the same again.”
| | © AFP/Archives 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) |
It was only after 8 p.m., more than 12 hours after the first red alert issued by the Aemet meteorological agency, that local government services sent a message to residents' cell phones asking them to stay at home or to return there without delay due to the risk of flooding.
But by then, many communities were already flooded and hundreds of people were stranded on the roads in their vehicles. Many could not be saved.
Referring to this red alert from Aemet, Mr. Mazón clearly downplayed its importance, affirming that this type of alert had “occurred 36 times during the last 10 years without any of them not be followed by sudden floods like those of last month.
“Flaws”
“Many of these alerts did not even result in notable flooding,” he added, further deploring “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.
“Our detection and warning systems have flaws,” also criticized the head of the regional executive, pointing the finger at this organization, which, according to him, stopped providing information for two hours while the floods were were getting worse.
| | © AFP A person holds up a sign with the inscription “20:12 too late! Mazon in prison”, during a demonstration demanding the resignation of regional president Carlos Mazon in front of the regional parliament in Valencia (Spain), November 15, 2024 |
He stressed that his party's parliamentary group had requested the creation of a commission of inquiry by the regional parliament.
This appearance before the regional parliament, which takes place both at his request and that of the opposition, was initially scheduled for Thursday, but was postponed due to a new red alert for heavy rain issued Wednesday evening by Aemet.
