The head of the Valencia regional government has just attempted an impossible task – justifying his administration’s conduct before, during and after the flash floods that killed over 220 people in the Spanish region last month.
Since the catastrophe on 29 October, relentless, richly deserved criticism has been heaped on Carlos Mazón’s right-wing Partido Popular administration, which last year scrapped a special response force for natural disasters. On the day of the floods, instead of monitoring the situation, Mazón enjoyed a leisurely restaurant lunch lasting until six in the evening and then took over an hour to reach the emergency command centre. The flood warning, when it finally came, was too late: the alert pinged on one woman’s mobile phone while she was hauling herself up the side of a building, the torrent roaring just below her.
It’s not clear how much longer Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez can cling to power
And then the recovery effort, at least in its early days, was a mismanaged chaos.
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