Shifting tales renew pressure on Spain flood region leader

Shifting tales renew pressure on Spain flood region leader
By Alfons LUNA
Madrid (AFP) Feb 28, 2025

The leader of Spain's flood-hit Valencia region is facing renewed pressure to resign after changing his account of his whereabouts during the deadly disaster and with fresh protests called this weekend.

Carlos Mazon has weathered fierce scrutiny since the October 29 catastrophe that killed 232 people in the country's deadliest floods in decades, including 224 in the eastern Valencia region.

But it is his whereabouts as the floods hit that have generated the most debate.

He had already acknowledged that he had been having lunch with a journalist in the afternoon, several hours after national weather agency AEMET issued the highest red alert in the morning.

The conservative leader had also initially said he had arrived at a crucial meeting of a regional emergency services committee after 7:00 pm.

That implied he was present when the decision was taken to send a mass telephone alert at 8:11 pm to warn residents.

The alert came too late, as muddy floodwater was already drowning victims, engulfing homes and tossing cars.

Mazon's new account on Wednesday appeared to change the narrative, saying he arrived afterwards at 8:28 pm.

Regions are responsible for emergency management in Spain's decentralised system, which helps explain why Mazon has been the focus of widespread fury.

Some 130,000 demonstrators gathered in Valencia city in November to demand his resignation, while hecklers regularly target him at events calling on him to go.

On Saturday, the fifth in a series of rallies calling on him to stand down is set to take place in Valencia.

- Political pressure -

Officials in Mazon's right-wing Popular Party (PP) initially backed him, criticising Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government for its role in the catastrophe and the management of aid for victims.

This week however, national leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo declined to explicitly defend him when questioned by journalists.

Sanchez, for his part, has said it is time to send "Mazon home".

And Justice Minister Felix Bolanos on Thursday blasted Feijoo for not removing the head of Valencia's regional government from office.

"When a person lies once, the responsibility lies with that person, but when a person lies continuously, the responsibility lies with the person who keeps them in their job," Bolanos said.

Still to come is the report following the investigation into the management of the floods. Depending on its conclusions, criminal charges could follow.

"Mazon is now moving to a criminal tune, to save his legal future, and that, far from helping him politically, undermines his position even more," wrote Julian Quiros, director of the conservative daily ABC.

A lawyer with a wife and two children, Mazon launched his political career in 2007 as a village councillor and was elected leader of the Valencia region in 2023.

Viewed as conciliator with a common touch, his past as a crooner in a band and a failed attempt to represent Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest won him a certain affection.

But the floods disaster has wiped out any sympathy he once enjoyed.

Mazon has consistently dismissed critics calling for his resignation, vowing to lead the colossal recovery effort through to the end of his term in 2027.