{"id":527396,"date":"2025-10-25T17:06:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T17:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/527396\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T17:06:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T17:06:19","slug":"protesters-gather-one-year-after-spains-deadly-floods-channels-television","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/527396\/","title":{"rendered":"Protesters Gather One Year After Spain’s Deadly Floods \u2022 Channels Television"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Demonstrators began gathering in Spain\u2019s eastern city of Valencia on Saturday ahead of a march to mark the first anniversary of last year\u2019s deadly floods and demand accountability.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Groups of people, some carrying signs saying \u201cJustice\u201d, walked around the centre of Spain\u2019s third-largest city before the demonstration.<\/p>\n

The protest comes nearly one year since torrential rain on October 29, 2024 \u00a0caused flooding in towns near Valencia, killing 229 people, Spain\u2019s deadliest natural disaster in decades.<\/p>\n

Thousands of people are expected to take part in the protest called by social, civic and labour organisations.<\/p>\n

\"\"Firefighters hold up banners criticizing the regional government\u2019s president, Carlos Mazon, during a demonstration to protest the regional government\u2019s response, nearly one year after devastating floods in Valencia on October 25, 2025. (Photo by Manaure Quintero \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is set to end near the headquarters of the regional government of Valencia.<\/p>\n

Regional leader Carlos Mazon is under immense pressure after his administration failed to issue flood alerts to people\u2019s cellphones until hours after the flooding started.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:\u00a0<\/strong>Spain Finds Flood Victim One Year After Tragedy<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"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<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Rosa Alvarez, who heads an association representing victims of the floods, blames the regional government\u2019s slow response for her 80-year-old father\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery minute counted that day. When the alarm sounded people had already drowned or were in real danger,\u201d \u00a0the 51-year-old social worker told AFP ahead of the march, adding \u201call those deaths were completely preventable\u201d.<\/p>\n

Campaigners have staged regular demonstrations against Mazon on or near the monthly anniversaries of the disaster.<\/p>\n

The majority of Valencia residents \u2014 71 percent \u2014 feel Mazon should resign, a poll published earlier this month in daily newspaper El Pais showed.<\/p>\n

Mazon is \u00a0a member of the conservative Popular Party, which sits in opposition to the Socialist-led national government<\/p>\n

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\u00a0due to attend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 Demonstrators began gathering in Spain\u2019s eastern city of Valencia on Saturday ahead of a march to mark…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":527397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[2000,299,12492,104],"class_list":{"0":"post-527396","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-flood","11":"tag-spain"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115435902276317358","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}