PAIPORTA (AFP) – Fresh protests were called in Spain as the shellshocked country marked one month since its worst floods in a generation killed 230 people.
Anger has swept the European nation after the October 29 catastrophe tossed cars, wrecked infrastructure and destroyed homes and businesses, particularly in the eastern Valencia region.
Telephone alerts reached some residents when water was already raging through towns, while several municipalities went for days without state help and relied on volunteers for food and water.
The authorities’ handling of the disaster has prompted trade unions, associations and local organisations to call for rallies in the hardest-hit areas.
They could take the form of symbolic actions at 8.11pm, the time when the Valencia regional authorities issued an alert more than 12 hours after a warning by the national weather service.
Another protest is expected in Spain’s third city Valencia today. A first demonstration drew 130,000 furious citizens demanding the resignation of regional leader Carlos Mazon.
Popular outrage boiled over in the ground-zero town of Paiporta on November 3 when survivors hurled mud at Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Mazon during a visit.
Sanchez and Mazon were evacuated and their fleeting unity has collapsed, with the left-wing central government and the conservative regional administration trading blame for the handling of the floods.
Thousands of troops, police, firefighters and volunteers continue to clear debris, repair damage and extract mud from garages, basements and car parks in the traumatised Valencia region.
In Paiporta, one of many places far from normal, a thin layer of smelly reddish dust has replaced the torrents of mud.
