The Fort Worth Press - Tens of thousands march in Spain over handling of deadly floods

USD -
AED 3.673026
AFN 67.499756
ALL 92.000078
AMD 387.51022
ANG 1.803294
AOA 913.502353
ARS 997.7641
AUD 1.53282
AWG 1.8015
AZN 1.698929
BAM 1.842782
BBD 2.020296
BDT 119.572592
BGN 1.842896
BHD 0.376896
BIF 2898
BMD 1
BND 1.339138
BOB 6.938791
BRL 5.749198
BSD 1.000584
BTN 84.49608
BWP 13.612807
BYN 3.274442
BYR 19600
BZD 2.01681
CAD 1.394985
CDF 2868.999783
CHF 0.882585
CLF 0.03573
CLP 985.91001
CNY 7.232599
COP 4436.5
CRC 512.023217
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 104.35012
CZK 23.922299
DJF 177.720201
DKK 7.028425
DOP 60.25002
DZD 133.442004
EGP 49.2159
ETB 122.050006
EUR 0.942202
FJD 2.26455
GBP 0.785275
GEL 2.739763
GHS 16.414998
GMD 71.504736
GNF 8631.000036
GTQ 7.732172
GYD 209.320293
HKD 7.778095
HNL 25.069979
HTG 131.605231
HUF 387.194997
IDR 15826.3
ILS 3.75608
INR 84.40135
IQD 1308.654
IRR 42104.999785
ISK 138.980053
JMD 158.989193
JOD 0.709098
JPY 154.793983
KES 129.500242
KGS 86.183085
KHR 4054.999874
KMF 460.374996
KRW 1410.255056
KWD 0.307503
KYD 0.833804
KZT 496.541912
LAK 21960.000519
LBP 89599.999816
LKR 292.59008
LRD 185.350115
LSL 18.10905
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.864965
MAD 9.920983
MDL 17.910448
MGA 4650.000011
MKD 58.007786
MMK 3247.960992
MOP 8.016734
MRU 39.895699
MUR 47.109872
MVR 15.459742
MWK 1735.000238
MXN 20.618255
MYR 4.437982
MZN 63.924998
NAD 18.11003
NGN 1672.680064
NIO 36.770234
NOK 11.088699
NPR 135.193351
NZD 1.689235
OMR 0.385022
PAB 1.000584
PEN 3.789015
PGK 4.01525
PHP 58.757982
PKR 277.950236
PLN 4.101361
PYG 7817.549678
QAR 3.64075
RON 4.688605
RSD 110.230992
RUB 98.248133
RWF 1366
SAR 3.757364
SBD 8.351256
SCR 13.560727
SDG 601.499774
SEK 10.911065
SGD 1.339671
SLE 22.801028
SOS 571.504164
SRD 35.235033
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.755465
SZL 18.110355
THB 34.909749
TJS 10.635517
TMT 3.5
TND 3.147504
TOP 2.3421
TRY 34.378995
TTD 6.799337
TWD 32.430302
TZS 2661.865001
UAH 41.439986
UGX 3676.692296
UYU 42.184909
UZS 12814.999572
VES 44.873078
VND 25350
XAF 618.080997
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.753807
XOF 614.999821
XPF 112.649739
YER 249.774997
ZAR 18.119299
ZMK 9001.205799
ZMW 27.24069
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    0.0300

    60.22

    +0.05%

  • RELX

    -1.2100

    46.59

    -2.6%

  • CMSC

    -0.1800

    24.54

    -0.73%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1700

    7.16

    -2.37%

  • NGG

    -1.2400

    62.9

    -1.97%

  • RIO

    -1.4000

    61.2

    -2.29%

  • AZN

    0.4000

    65.19

    +0.61%

  • BP

    -0.7600

    28.16

    -2.7%

  • GSK

    -0.8300

    35.52

    -2.34%

  • BTI

    0.0900

    35.24

    +0.26%

  • SCS

    0.0200

    13.67

    +0.15%

  • BCC

    -2.0100

    141.13

    -1.42%

  • CMSD

    -0.2100

    24.75

    -0.85%

  • VOD

    -0.8500

    8.47

    -10.04%

  • JRI

    -0.3000

    13.22

    -2.27%

  • BCE

    -0.1600

    27.69

    -0.58%

Tens of thousands march in Spain over handling of deadly floods
Tens of thousands march in Spain over handling of deadly floods / Photo: © AFP

Tens of thousands march in Spain over handling of deadly floods

Tens of thousands of people marched Saturday in Valencia and other Spanish cities to voice their anger at the authorities' handling of deadly floods.

Text size:

In Valencia, some protesters shouted "Murderers! Murderers!" and some carried placards denouncing Valencia's regional president as well as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

The region was the worst hit by last months' floods, the most serious in decades, which killed at least 220 people and left towns and cities swamped with mud.

Local people are furious about the lack of warnings.

Some have pointed out that the official alerts for the floods landed on people's phones when cars were already being washed away.

There is anger too over what critics say was the slow response of the authorities in the aftermath of the deadly flash floods that affected around 80 towns and cities in the region.

As the march in Valencia headed to the city's regional headquarters, some protesters had harsh words for regional president Carlos Mazon.

Police and protesters faced off in a tense atmosphere, with some scuffles breaking out.

"Mazon's management has been outrageous and he should resign," 75-year-old Julian Garcia told AFP.

"In the hours before, they should have warned people to be on the alert, not to take their children to school, not to take their cars to work," he added.

- 'Shameful' -

Of the 220 deaths confirmed so far, 212 of them were in the Valencia region. The clean-up operations in some villages -- and the search for bodies of dozens of missing people -- is still going on.

Ana de la Rosa, a 30-year-old archivist, blamed poor management and political in-fighting between the regional and national authorities.

"They got mixed up in political guerilla warfare when it wasn't the time," she said.

She argued that it was not enough for the key officials to resign: there was a case to be made that their mismanagement amounted to manslaughter, she said.

Another demonstrator, 50-year-old Trini Orduna, said that both the regional and national authorities should take their share of the blame, describing the country's political class as "shameful".

Even so, regional health authorities have asked local councils to apply measures to control and prevent the proliferation of mosquitoes and other insects capable of spreading diseases.

S.Palmer--TFWP