Accusations fly in Spain over who is to blame for flood disaster 1 day ago Guy Hedgecoe BBC News Reporting from Madrid, Spain A week after flash floods hit eastern Spain, recriminations are flying over who was to blame for the country’s worst natural disaster in living memory amid angry scenes on the part of those affected.
In the immediate aftermath of the floods, Valencia regional leader Carlos Mazón of the conservative People’s Party (PP) welcomed Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and thanked him for his government’s support.
It was an unusual sight in the context of Spain’s deeply polarised politics, with Mazón even calling Sánchez “dear prime minister”.
“If the CHJ had re-activated the hydrological alert, the alarm message would have been sent immediately” by the regional government, Mazón said.
Fifteen thousands troops, civil guards and police have now arrived in the Valencia region, double the number from last weekend.
Spain is rife with accusations regarding the cause of the flood disaster.
a day ago.
Guy Hedgecoe.
BBC News.
written from Spain’s Madrid.
Following a week of flash floods in eastern Spain, blame for the nation’s worst natural disaster in recent memory is being questioned amid outrage from those impacted.
Conflicts over which institutions had jurisdiction in the disaster areas, where at least 218 people died, have replaced the initial perception of cross-party unity.
Valencia regional leader Carlos Mazón of the conservative People’s Party (PP) greeted Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and thanked him for the government’s assistance shortly after the floods.
In light of Spain’s sharply divided politics, it was an uncommon sight; Mazón even referred to Sánchez as “dear prime minister”.
The regional leader of Valencia has come under fire for taking about 12 hours to respond to a red weather warning issued by Spain’s national meteorological office (Aemet) on October 29 and send out a direct alert to people’s phones, at a time when the flood was already causing significant damage.
The central government-supervised Aemet provided the information, but Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the PP’s national leader, questioned it. He also expressed dissatisfaction over the lack of coordination between the regional government and the prime minister’s administration.
Mazón has been under increasing pressure in the days since, with numerous political opponents and commentators demanding that he step down for his actions that day and for disbanding the Valencia Emergency Unit (UVE) when he took office last year.
As his party boss has done, he has responded by adopting a more combative stance.
This has involved accusing Madrid-controlled CHJ hydrographic agency of both activating and deactivating an alert on the relevant day.
“If the CHJ had reactivated the hydrological alert, the regional government would have sent the alarm message right away,” Mazón stated.
In response, the CHJ stated that while it does not issue such alerts, it does provide data on rainfall and related topics.
The number of police, civil guards, and troops in the Valencia region has doubled since last weekend, totaling fifteen thousand.
Mazón has refuted allegations that his administration did not ask the military for adequate assistance following the weather event, stating that such decisions were made by the armed forces themselves.
The regional government had to request any such support, according to protocol, Javier Marcos, the head of the military emergency unit (UME), retorted.
Referring to the Valencia leader, he stated, “I can have 1,000 men at the emergency’s door, but I can’t go in, legally, without authorization from the head of the emergency.”.
At Monday’s crisis ministerial meeting with King Felipe, Margarita Robles, the defense minister, reportedly became infuriated by Mazón’s remarks regarding the military.
Núñez Feijóo’s calls for the prime minister to declare a national state of emergency, which would strip Valencia’s regional government of its authority and centralize crisis management in Madrid, have further complicated the political situation.
Such a measure has also been supported by Santiago Abascal, the leader of the far-right Vox party, but the government has rejected it.
He criticized the administration’s “evil and incompetence,” saying that Sánchez was to blame for failing to use all state resources when lives could have been saved.
The public’s outrage over the way the tragedy was handled on Sunday was directed at the king, Sánchez, and Mazón. Residents of Paiporta, the town most affected by the floods in Valencia, threw mud at them and called them “murderers.”.
As the violence escalated, the prime minister was escorted to his vehicle by his security detail. The king and queen Letizia, who stayed close to Mazón, spoke with some of the locals to reassure them that every effort was being made to assist.
Despite the fact that many have questioned the wisdom of that visit, Mazón has since proposed a €31 billion plan for the central government to pay for the reconstruction of the flood-damaged areas.
Sánchez, meanwhile, has unveiled a €10 billion initial aid package.
When he made the announcement, he stated, “What Spaniards want is to see their institutions working shoulder to shoulder, not fighting with each other.”.
