Tens of thousands of people protested, demanding the resignation of the regional head

Tens of thousands of people have protested in Valencia against the government’s handling of recent deadly floods, demanding the resignation of regional head Carlos Mazón.

Protesters chanted: “We are covered in mud, you are covered in blood” as they took to the streets on Saturday night.

More than 200 people died in floods caused by torrential rains that hit Valencia and neighboring provinces in October. Eighty people are still missing.

Protesters accused local authorities of issuing flood warnings too late.

“We want to express our outrage and anger at the mismanagement of this disaster that has affected so many people,” Anna Oliver, one of the protest organizers, told Reuters news agency.

Last week, Spain’s king and queen were pelted with mud and other objects by angry protesters during a visit to the town of Paiporta, one of the hardest hit.

Objects were also thrown at Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who was quickly evacuated.

Thousands of people lost their homes, and streets in many areas are still flooded with mud and debris.

Mazón, of the conservative People’s Party, defended his actions. He said his officials did not receive enough warning from the central government and that the scale of the disaster was unpredictable.

In Spain, regional governments are responsible for handling disaster response and can request additional resources from the central government in Madrid.

Spain’s weather agency issued a storm warning for the region on October 25, but Valencian authorities did not issue warnings to local mobile phones until several hours after the flooding began.

The local councilor in charge of emergencies admitted that she was not aware of a system for sending phone alerts.

Local media reported that, when the floods began, Mazón met a journalist for lunch and did not arrive for an emergency coordination meeting until 19:00 local time (18:00 GMT).

Government sources told El País newspaper that this was “irrelevant” and that Mazón was continuously informed about the events.

Flooding in Valencia is caused by the Dana phenomenon – when warm, moist air meets cold air, creating an unstable weather system.

Scientists say a warming climate makes flooding worse.