THERE were incredible scenes in Valencia on Saturday as more than 25,000 people took to the streets to demand the resignation of president Carlos Mazon.
The conservative leader, from the Partido Popular party, has now been the subject of six angry demonstrations over his government’s handling of the deadly DANA disaster last October.
More than 220 people perished during one of the deadliest natural disasters in Spanish history, when historic rainfall caused a series of biblical floods.
In the wake of the tragedy, questions emerged over the handling of the crisis, with Mazon accused of being too slow to act.
Crucially, alerts were not sent to mobile phones until well after many streams had burst their banks and carried people away in their cars – despite state weather agency Aemet issuing a red alert (the most severe), hours earlier.
Five months later and calls for Mazon and his whole council’s resignation are stronger than ever.
The mass demonstration on Saturday involved more than 200 NGOs, trade unions and other groups.
It saw tens of thousands of people march roughly 3.3km from Valencia City Hall Square to Plaza de la Virgen.
They held up banners reading ‘Mazon Resign’ while chanting various anti-government slogans.
The front of the march was led by emergency service workers, as a tribute to their bravery during the disaster, which saw them work in unsafe and unsanitary conditions in the days and weeks afterwards.
Mazon has so far refused to resign, despite five previous protests demanding it. He has yet to comment on Saturday’s demonstration.
