Protesters and police clashed in the streets of Valencia in eastern Spain on Saturday, as tens of thousands of people marched to demand the regional president resign over his response to floods that killed more than 220 people.
Near Valencia’s City Hall Square, police used batons and shields to push back an angry crowd who at times threw chairs and other objects at the officers, video footage showed. Elsewhere in the city several buildings were vandalized, according to the Valencia mayor, though there have been no reports of serious injuries.
Local media – citing government information – reported an estimated 130,000 people took part in the protest.
The demonstrations started around 6 p.m. local time, when thousands of people – many of them carrying placards and chanting “killers!” – took to the streets to demand the resignation of Valencia’s regional president Carlos Mazón over what critics say was too slow a response to what was the worst natural disaster the region has seen in decades.
The floods, which began in late October, saw a year’s worth of rain dumped on the region in less than 8 hours, which came rushing down the rivers and tributaries toward the Mediterranean sea, picking up cars and destroying bridges along the way.
“The regional government didn’t warn on time for the flooding, didn’t respond on time,” a protester told Reuters.
“So we want them to quit and to let the new government take over the responsibility to clean up the mess that they left.”
Another protester said, “The only thing I want to say is that this abandonment and institutional negligence must be held accountable.”
Mazón has claimed he wasn’t warned early enough about the severity of the rain by central authorities, while the Spanish government says it tried calling Mazón at least four times before being able to reach him.
The regional president, who according to some Spanish media reports was at a restaurant hours into the floods, has denied missing any calls prior to the floods turning catastrophic.
Meanwhile, the Spanish government and local agencies continue to search for over 70 people who remain missing.
More than 8,400 soldiers are taking part in the efforts, according to the Spanish government, along with divers searching near Valencia’s shore.
Valencia’s mayor María José Catalá took to X following Saturday’s protests to urge calm.
“With absolute respect to everyone, I consider that confrontation and vandalism will never be the solution,” she wrote.