Demonstration in Valencia Demanding Autonomous Community’s President Resignation

A month after the storm and twenty-one days since the massive demonstration that demanded the resignation of the president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, for his handling of the disaster, the same organizers of that event have called for another large protest in the streets this Saturday in Valencia. Photo: EFE/Kai Forsterling

November 30, 2024 Hour: 2:57 pm

Thousands of people mobilized this Saturday in Valencia to denounce the management of DANA and demand the resignation of the conservative Popular Party’s regional president Carlos Mazón, for his management of the storm, which has left more than 220 fatalities in the area.

Following the massive demonstration, which gathered 130,000 people three weeks ago, this new one, also called by left-wing parties and workers unions, is focused on the same objective and takes place one day after a month of flooding.

The organizers have denounced that towns and cities continue to be devastated and accuse the Valencian government of being morally and ethically incapable of carrying out reconstruction.

The have also claim that the government has become a “government of destruction”, militarized and that it only grants funds to companies affected by and linked to corruption cases.

Manifestació a València amb veïns i ciutadans que reclamen responsabilitats polítiques contra el govern de Mazón. Se senten abandonats, un mes després de la danahttps://t.co/JXbwPZOeGx pic.twitter.com/46HPcdYJJY
— Laia Claret (@laiaclaret) November 30, 2024

_{“Demonstration in Valencia with residents and citizens demanding political responsibility against the government of Mazón. They feel abandoned, a month after the dana”}

In addition, protesters called for “truth, justice and reparation” and complained that, one month after the storm, many people still can not cook a hot dish in their homes and almost 20,000 students have not returned to normal schools.

This protest comes one day after some thirty Valencian municipalities affected by dana took to the streets to demand the resignation of Mazón, for his “nefarious management” during the emergency.

The president of the Generalitat (Valencian regional government) has been severely criticized for being at a lunch that did not appear on his public agenda while the storm drowned entire villages and began to register fatalities.

Mazón has reorganised its team and hired a military man retired after the criticism to lead the recovery after the devastating storm of 29 October in Spain, which caused 230 deaths and affected 75 municipalities, Leaving hundreds of thousands affected and 25,000 hectares flooded.

Rainfall reached 771 litres per square metre in the worst affected areas. The estimated cost of repairing and rebuilding infrastructure is about 3 billion euros, with the Spanish government mobilizing more than 16.6 billion in aid.