Valencia officials rule out resignations over flood response

Authorities in Valencia have ruled out any imminent resignations from the regional government as anger continues to grow over the response to catastrophic flooding which left at least 222 people dead.

Tens of thousands of people staged a protest in Valencia on Saturday night, accusing the regional government of sending out public alerts warning about the dangers of the flooding too slowly.

A group of protestors, demanding the resignation of regional president Carlos Mazón, clashed with riot police in front of the city hall, where the rally started with police using batons to beat them back.

The EFE news agency said at least 31 police officers were injured in the violence but gave no information about the number of civilians hurt.

The region’s vice-president, Susana Camarero, said no one would be stepping down as Spain clears up from its worst natural disaster in decades, saying to do so would be a betrayal of the victims.

“Given the magnitude of the catastrophe and the damages inflicted on towns and on people, given that magnitude and all the damages caused, we cannot abandon the victims,” she said.

“This government won’t abandon the victims. This government will be, as it has been from the first day, at the side of the victims.”

Mazón said he would give answers when he appears in parliament later this week but people have accused him of refusing to take responsibility for the crisis after he initially pointed the finger at Spain’s socialist government headed by prime minister Pedro Sánchez.

“I’ll be providing political explanations and giving an account of the events with full details on Thursday,” he said.

Spain’s central government insists the disaster response fell entirely to Mazón and not Madrid as it had been graded a level two emergency and therefore the relief effort was the responsibility of regional authorities.

It’s not the first angry protest in the region – Spain’s royals, Prime Minister Sánchez and a number of regional leaders had mud thrown at them by angry crowds when they visited the municipality of Paiporta last week.

Meanwhile, Spain’s national meteorological agency AEMET has issued an alert that a mass of cold air from north Europe could cause heavy rains in the next few days, possibly creating a new DANA, an acronym for a cut-off lower pressure storm system that migrates from an unusually wavy and stalled jet stream.

Strong and persistent rainfall is expected from Tuesday on the northern side of the Spanish Mediterranean coast, including the Balearic Islands.

The full extent of the damage in the region is unknown, but Spain’s Consortium for Insurance Compensation, a public-private entity that pays insurance claims for extreme risks like floods, estimates that it will pay out at least €3.5 billion in compensation.