Spanish regional leader admits mistakes made in flood response, but refuses to step down
The Spanish regional leader under fire for his handling of the catastrophic Valencia floods last month has defied calls to step down but conceded that mistakes were made
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Spanish regional leader facing immense pressure for his handling of the catastrophic Valencia floods last month defied calls to step down Friday, but conceded that authorities made mistakes in their response to the disaster.
More than 220 people were killed from the powerful Oct. 29 storms that brought tsunami-like waves to parts of eastern and central Spain, wrecking countless homes and leaving entire towns caked in mud.
Carlos Mazón of the conservative Popular Party addressed regional lawmakers in Valencia more than two weeks later, saying he would “not deny failings” as anger has continued to grow at what people perceive was a slow and chaotic response.
The storm, he said, “showed that our detection and warning systems have cracks in them.”
His remarks Friday were the first detailed public comments he has made about his government's disaster response, coming six days after tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Valencia city calling for his resignation.
Criticism mounted after local authorities failed to send emergency alerts sooner to cell phones on Oct. 29, in spite of Spain’s national weather forecaster having issued the highest level of warning as early as 7:30 a.m. that day.
Spaniards, particularly in Valencia, have been critical of other aspects of the regional and national government’s initial response to the disaster. In hard-hit Paiporta, survivors pelted mud at Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, King Felipe VI, and Mazón when the three leaders visited the town days after the floods.
Mazón’s reputation took another beating this week when local media reported that he had a three-hour lunch with a journalist on the day of the storm, while some towns and villages had already started to fill with water.
On Friday, Mazón repeated a previous assertion that a national body responsible for measuring river flows had provided insufficient warnings, and said the magnitude of the deluge was hard to foresee.
“It is legitimate to question in general whether the (emergency) system responded how we believed it should,” Mazón said, adding that it had not.
Spain’s decentralized government tasks regional authorities with handling civil protection. Regional governments can ask the national government in Madrid, now led by the Socialists, for extra resources, and use information from the national weather forecaster and other agencies.
Science minister Diana Morant who belongs to the Socialist party called Mazon’s speech an “act of political cowardice.” She said the Popular Party should dismiss him.
Most of the victims of last month's floods died in small towns just outside Valencia. Official data released on Thursday showed that almost half were 70 years or older.