Thousands of Spaniards marched in the city of Valencia to demand the resignation of the regional president in charge of the emergency response to last week’s catastrophic floods that left more than 200 dead and others missing.
Some protestors clashed with riot police in front of Valencia’s city hall, where the protestors started their march to the seat of the regional government. Police used batons to beat them back.
Regional leader Carlos Mazón is under immense pressure after his administration failed to issue flood alerts to citizens’ cellphones until hours after the flooding started on the night of October 29.
Many marchers held up homemade signs or chanted “Mazón Resign!” Others carried signs with messages like “You Killed Us!”
Earlier on Saturday, Mazón told regional broadcaster À Punt that “there will be time to hold officials accountable,” but that now “is time to keep cleaning our streets, helping people and rebuilding.”
He said that he “respected” the march.
Spain’s historic floods have claimed 219 lives, with 211 of the dead being in Valencia alone. Seven more people died in the neighbouring Castilla-La Mancha, and one in Andalusia.
About 54 bodies remain unidentified.
A Spanish research vessel, typically used to study marine ecosystems, has been redirected to search Valencia’s seabed for the 93 people officially listed as missing.
Spanish authorities believe that the actual number of missing people may be higher.
In total 36,605 people have been rescued across Spain, according to authorities.
The floods have not only caused immense human devastation but have also affected Spain’s finances.
Spain’s Consortium for Insurance Compensation, a public-private entity that pays insurance claims for extreme risks like floods, estimates that it will spend at least €3.5 billion (£3 billion) in compensation.
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