dpa
Madrid
Thousands of people gathered in Valencia to call for the resignation of the regional government following the country’s most catastrophic storms in a century.
People in the regional capital were out on the streets to protest the government’s handling of the disaster eleven days after it devastated the area.
Some 65 organizations, including citizens’ initiatives and trade unions, had called for the demonstration at short notice.
After a minute’s silence for the more than 200 victims of the floods, some of the protest’s leaders read a manifesto calling for a clarification on who was responsible for the "avoidable consequences of the disaster” and for the removal of the "incompetent Valencian government.” The participants chanted, among other things, "Murderer, murderer” and "Resign, resign.” Some protesters carried placards with messages such as "Mazón to prison,” referring to the president of the regional government, Carlos Mazón.
The city’s town hall square and the access roads filled with people. According to local authorities, some 130,000 demonstrators gathered in the provincial capital. On October 29, as much rain fell in a few hours in some Spanish towns as would normally fall in a year.
According to the latest figures from the Spanish government, the heavy rainfall, landslides and flooding at the end of October killed at least 220 people. Authorities recovered 214 bodies in the Valencia region alone. There were eight deaths recorded in the neighbouring regions of Castile-La Mancha and Andalusia. The official number of missing people has been reduced from 78 to 50.
The regional authorities in Valencia said 19 bodies have not yet been identified.
Around 8,500 military staff members and 10,000 officers from the national police forces have been deployed in the approximately 80 affected municipalities.
The Spanish National Police said late on Saturday that more than 100 people had been arrested so far in the areas affected by the floods in the Valencia area, as security forces continued to work to ensure security there. Many buildings are still partly or completely inaccessible because wrecked cars and household items are blocking the entrances.
Meanwhile, the sun has been shining for days in the flooded area.
Earlier on Saturday, the royal office had announced that Spanish King Felipe VI would visit the Valencia region to oversee the ongoing rescue and clean-up operations.
On his first visit to the region last Sunday, accompanied by Queen Letizia, the king was met with angry crowds, who threw mud and insulted the royal couple.