By Eva Manez
VALENCIA (Reuters) – The leader of Spain’s Valencian Community defended his handling of catastrophic floods that killed more than 200 people, saying on Friday he did everything he could in the face of a “monstrous avalanche of water that exceeded all weather forecasts.” .
Addressing regional legislators, Carlos Mazón rejected calls to resign, although he said he would not evade responsibility and apologized for last month’s disaster.
“I am not going to deny the failures, it is not possible to do so, nor would it be useful,” said Mazón, of the conservative Popular Party.
Affected local residents have fiercely criticized, mainly local authorities but also the national government, for their level of preparation and for not sufficiently warning people about the risks of the October 29 storm and its resulting flooding.
Mazón reiterated a statement he had previously made that the body in charge of measuring water flows, run by the national government, did not send enough warnings. He promised a public inquiry at the regional assembly into the national and regional governments’ handling of the disaster.
“The best possible effort was made given the situation, with the information available and the resources available, although it is evident that it was not enough,” Mazón said.
‘POLITICAL COWARDY’
Science Minister Diana Morant, leader of the Socialist Party in Valencia, described Mazón’s speech as an “act of political cowardice and lack of respect.”
He said that the Popular Party should dismiss Mazón and call new regional elections once the emergency passes.
Dozens of citizens gathered in front of the regional assembly to demand his resignation and chant “neither forget nor forgive” and “you ate while others died,” in reference to a long lunch that Mazón had with a local journalist on the day of the disaster.
Mazón said he did not cancel his schedule that day because the regional official in charge of emergency services was handling the situation, adding that he did not delay any decisions and was kept informed throughout the day.
The residents of Paiporta, one of the Valencia suburbs affected by the floods, expressed their anger against Mazón, the kings of Spain and the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, during his visit on November 4.
Residents have criticized what they see as late warnings from authorities about the dangers of flooding, and then a delayed response from emergency services when the disaster struck.
“How many of these deaths were preventable?” said Joan Baldovi, a lawmaker from the far-left Compromis party.
He called for Mazón’s resignation, calling him “negligent.”
Of those who died in Valencia and nearby towns, 190 were Spanish and 26 were citizens of 11 countries, official data showed on Thursday. Almost half of the dead were people aged 70 or older.
Rescuers are still searching for 16 missing people.