Demonstrators began gathering in Spain’s eastern city of Valencia on Saturday ahead of a march to mark the first anniversary of last year’s deadly floods and demand accountability.

Groups of people, some carrying signs saying “Justice”, walked around the centre of Spain’s third-largest city before the demonstration.

The protest comes nearly one year since torrential rain on October 29, 2024  caused flooding in towns near Valencia, killing 229 people, Spain’s deadliest natural disaster in decades.

Thousands of people are expected to take part in the protest called by social, civic and labour organisations.

Firefighters hold up banners criticizing the regional government’s president, Carlos Mazon, during a demonstration to protest the regional government’s response, nearly one year after devastating floods in Valencia on October 25, 2025. (Photo by Manaure Quintero / AFP)

 

It is set to end near the headquarters of the regional government of Valencia.

Regional leader Carlos Mazon is under immense pressure after his administration failed to issue flood alerts to people’s cellphones until hours after the flooding started.

READ ALSO: Spain Finds Flood Victim One Year After Tragedy

This picture taken on November 1, 2024 shows the devastating effects of flooding on a cemetery in the town of Alfafar, in the region of Valencia, eastern Spain. Photo by JOSE JORDAN / AFP

 

He has has defended his handling of the crisis, saying its magnitude was unforeseeable and that his administration did not receive sufficient warning from central authorities.

Rosa Alvarez, who heads an association representing victims of the floods, blames the regional government’s slow response for her 80-year-old father’s death.

By the time it issued the mobile phone alert, he was already drowning after floodwaters knocked down one of the walls of his home in Catarroja, she said.

“Every minute counted that day. When the alarm sounded people had already drowned or were in real danger,”  the 51-year-old social worker told AFP ahead of the march, adding “all those deaths were completely preventable”.

Campaigners have staged regular demonstrations against Mazon on or near the monthly anniversaries of the disaster.

The majority of Valencia residents — 71 percent — feel Mazon should resign, a poll published earlier this month in daily newspaper El Pais showed.

Mazon is  a member of the conservative Popular Party, which sits in opposition to the Socialist-led national government

A state memorial ceremony is due to take place on the first anniversary of the tragedy on Wednesday in Valencia, with King Felipe and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez due to attend.