Spanish regional leader admits ‘mistakes’ in handling deadly floods
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The Oct 29 disaster marked the country’s deadliest floods in decades.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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VALENCIA - The head of Spain’s eastern Valencia region admitted on Nov 15 to “mistakes” in handing the country’s deadliest flood in decades that killed 216 people there.
“I’m not going to deny mistakes,” Mr Carlos Mazon told the regional Parliament in an address, adding he was “not going to shirk any responsibility”.
“As the head of the regional government, I would like to apologise to those who felt that the aid did not arrive or was not enough,” he added.
The Oct 29 disaster
While he spoke, dozens of protesters gathered outside the regional parliament, jeering and chanting slogans demanding his resignation.
The floods wrecked infrastructure, gutted buildings and submerged fields. The final bill is expected to soar to tens of billions of euros.
Almost half of the people killed in Spain’s Valencia region during recent floods were 70 years old or older, and 26 were foreigners, including two Britons.
Outrage at the authorities for their perceived mismanagement before and after the floods triggered mass protests on Nov 9, the largest in Valencia city which drew 130,000 people.
Several carried placards that read: “Our hands are stained with mud, theirs with blood”.
Critics have questioned the efficiency of the Valencia region’s alert system during October’s downpour, when in some cases only reached residents’ telephones when floodwater was already gushing through towns.
The emergency alert was only sent after 8pm, nearly 13 hours after state weather agency warned of the risk of “very intense” rain.
The head of Valencia’s emergency department admitted she did not learn it was possible to send such warnings until the evening of the first day of the floods.
Under Spain’s decentralised system of government, regional governments lead disaster response.
Spain’s Socialist-led central government has said Mr Mazon’s administration, run by the conservative Popular Party (PP), bore responsibility for not issuing the alert earlier.
He has also come under fire for having been missing for several critical hours on the afternoon of the disaster when it was already raining heavily.
In response to repeated questions for explanations for his absence, he finally admitted he had been having lunch with a journalist to offer her the directorship of the regional television station.
Many local residents have also complained that they were left without food and water for days, and had to rely on aid provided by volunteers instead of the government. AFP
