Tens of thousands protest and demand regional head resign

Tens of thousands of people have protested in Valencia against authorities’ handling of recent deadly floods, demanding the resignation of regional head Carlos Mazón.

Protesters chanted, “we are stained with mud, you are stained with blood” as they took to the streets on Saturday evening.

More than 200 people died in the flooding, which was caused by torrential rain hitting Valencia and neighbouring provinces in October. Eighty people are still missing.

Protesters have accused local authorities of issuing flood warnings far too late.

Angry protesters clashed with police towards the end of the demonstrations.

Pictures show Valencia City Hall smeared with mud, while the Reuters news agency reports protesters throwing chairs and other objects.

The city’s mayor, María José Catalá, posted pictures of broken windows and a video appearing to show a fire being started on social media, adding: “Vandalism is not the solution.”

Valencia City Council condemned “vandalism”, saying the city had also been affected by the floods.

Anna Oliver, one of the protest organisers, told the Reuters news agency: “We want to show our indignation and anger over the poor management of this disaster which has affected so many people.”

Last week the king and queen of Spain were pelted with mud and other objects by angry protesters during a visit to the town of Paiporta, one of the worst affected.

Objects were also thrown at Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who was quickly evacuated.

Thousands of people have lost their homes and streets in many areas are still covered in mud and debris.

Mazón, of the conservative Popular Party, has defended his actions. He says his officials did not receive enough warning from central government and the scale of the disaster was unforeseeable.

In Spain, regional governments are responsible for handling disaster response and can ask for extra resources from the central government in Madrid.

Spain’s weather agency issued storm warnings for the region from 25 October, but Valencian authorities did not issue alerts to local mobile phones until hours after flooding started.

The local councillor in charge of emergencies has since admitted she did not know there was a system for sending phone alerts.

Local media report that, as flooding started, Mazón met for lunch with a journalist and did not arrive at an emergency co-ordination meeting until 19:00 local time (18:00 GMT).

Government sources told the El País newspaper this was “irrelevant” and that Mazón was constantly informed of events.

The flooding in Valencia was caused by a Dana phenomenon – when warm, moist air meets cold air, creating an unstable weather system.

Scientists say the warming climate made the floods worse.