Thousands march in Valencia to demand the resignation of Carlos Mazón

Madrid. With cries of “murderer”, “criminal”, “scoundrel” and “Mazón to prison”, among others, thousands of people demonstrated in the center of Valencia to denounce the management of the crisis caused by the torrential rains by the president. of the Valencian autonomous government, the right-wing Carlos Mazón. The protest, called by platforms and associations of the left and nationalism in the region, passed in silence, only broken by the dozens of citizens who loudly demanded the resignation of Mazón and his main collaborators, whom they also called “ inept” and “incompetent”. During the march, some criticism was also heard of the actions of the Spanish Executive, chaired by the socialist Pedro Sánchez, with shouts such as “Sánchez and Mazón, they are the same shit,” since according to numerous victims of the torrential rains, the Spanish president did not mobilize in time to Army troops specialized in emergency and rescue tasks.

Gallery: Thousands march in Valencia to demand the resignation of Carlos Mazón

As a sign of mourning and respect for the relatives and people who have lost a loved one and are still searching for their whereabouts, the associations that called the demonstration asked the attendees to leave quietly and without at the end of the rally. political speeches will be made. The only clear and resounding message they wanted to express was the immediate resignation of the region’s top person responsible for managing the crisis, the right-wing Carlos Mazón, who on the same day of the torrential rains arrived more than two hours late to the meeting of the crisis and emergency committee and that has given several versions on such sensitive and vital issues as the activation of alerts and the mobilization of emergency teams. But finally the silence turned into cries of anger and rejection and into constant, loud whistles against those responsible for managing the crisis, especially against the regional authorities.

Photo Luis Hernandez

The DANA on Tuesday, October 29 in the southeast of Spain, especially in Valencia, is one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the country, with a provisional death toll of 220 people – of which 212 were in Valencia – and more than 36,500 people rescued. In addition, there are still 50 people unaccounted for and around 71 towns affected by the torrential rains, where 845 thousand people live, which represents 31.8 percent of the population of the autonomous community.

While in the main affected towns, such as Paiporta, Chiva, Benetusser and Massanassa, among others, they continue with the tasks of cleaning the streets and homes and in some cases they continue with the search for the missing, in the capital of the region , in Valencia, where hardly any damage was reported, thousands of people toured the city center, which ran from the Town Hall Square to the Manises Square, which is right in front of the Generalitat Palace, the seat of the regional government.

Among the associations that called the march stand out Cultural Action of the Valencian Country at Escola Valenciana, LAMBDA, Platform 14 April for the Republic, El Micalet Coral Society, City-Port Commission, Coordinator of Associations Democratic Memory Country-Deformation for Valencian Place to decide of the Valencian Country or Valencian Inter-Union, most of them linked to the left-wing parties of the region, such as Compromis or the Valencian Socialist Party (PSV).

Photo Luis Hernandez

In the joint statement, the protesters demanded “the purging of responsibilities for the deficient management of the last DANA”, for which “All organizations want to show their condolences and solidarity with the families and friends of the fatal victims and with the people affected.” They also pointed out that Carlos Mazón for “having demonstrated great inefficiency in managing the crisis, by acting 12 hours late after an ineffective forecast and late management.”

The protesters also criticized the response of “those companies that required their workers to go” to their workplaces in the midst of the crisis, as, according to several political parties such as Podemos, Sumar and Compromis, large companies in the region such as Mercadona did.

The protest in Valencia had some replicas in other Spanish cities, such as Madrid and Barcelona, ​​where more than a thousand people gathered in each.

Photo Luis Hernandez