Carlos Mazón, the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, is facing intense criticism over his response to the recent DANA disaster. The devastating flood, which struck the entire Valencia metropolitan area, has been labeled the worst natural catastrophe of the century in Spain. As the crisis unfolded, Mazón became the primary target of public outrage, with many Valencians blaming his administration for inadequate preparation and mismanagement, a failure that some argue contributed to the tragic loss of hundreds of lives.
The DANA flood was one of the worst disasters ever seen in Spanish history, it lead to 211 deaths (yet to confirm if it’s the official amount) and 11 people disappeared. The main concern to criticize Mazón was the late response, since amber alerts were sent when the cities were being flooded, leading to many people stuck in cars to disappear for days. The first round of anger towards Mazón was when he decided to visit some sites where the flood was affected, like the municipality of Paiporta. The entirety of the population of Paiporta went out to where Mazón was, to boo him and throw him objects as a form of protest. The anger of the people got so out of control that the national police guards had to escort him to safety.
The situation further deteriorated when reports surfaced that emergency response teams had been underfunded to handle a disaster of this magnitude. Critics argue that despite meteorological warnings issued days in advance, the Generalitat Valenciana failed to implement effective preventative measures, such as reinforcing drainage systems and coordinating emergency response protocols. Public frustration reached a new high when reports leaked that Mazón’s government reportedly ignored expert recommendations regarding the risk of flooding in the Valencia region. These concerns made the public believe that Mazón put money on top of public safety and that caused an outbreak in the people affected by the flood.
With these leaks and critics, Mazón tried to convince the public that these types of disasters are unforeseeable and that a flood of this magnitude is never something planned into a governments’ agenda. This meant that there was no plan of emergency for these types of situations.
This war between Mazón’s government and the public had led to opposition parties to call for his immediate resignation, but Mazón has repeatedly said he will not resign. He has also announced multiple relief packages for the people affected by the flood, ensuring financial aid, to families and businesses.
Whether or not Mazón’s management of the flood was correct or not, it is undeniable that there were many flaws. The real question is if the same thing would’ve happened if there was another political party ahead of the region of Valencia. There are documents that prove that this goes both ways, and that there were no emergency plans for events of this magnitude. Obviously, Mazón should have done a better job foreseeing this emergency, as well as taking action quicker when it happened. If amber alerts, and emergency services took action earlier, many lives would’ve been saved, as well as the 3 people that still count as disappeared to this day. With all this information being said, it is obvious that Mazón deserves to be criticized for his mistakes, and the public’s frustration is normal in these situations. Additionally, the criticism from other political parties might have served as a way of political scapegoating. This is so the blame of having a bad emergency plan for natural disasters, which is a result of bad management from past administration, falls fully on the current administration. This makes opposition parties like the Socialist Party (PSPV) and Compromís look better towards the future Valencian government elections.