Protesters urge regional Spanish leader to resign

26/10/2025 6:15

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia on Saturday and called for conservative regional leader Carlos Mazon to resign over his handling of flash floods that killed 229 people a year ago.



Displaying banners with messages such as "Mazon to prison" and chanting, "They didn't die, they were murdered," protesters filled the centre of Valencia for the 12th time since the flash floods occurred almost exactly one year ago.



Residents of the affected areas accuse the regional government of issuing an alert too late after buildings were already under water and many people were drowning in the most catastrophic flood-related event in Europe since 1967.



A judicial investigation is under way into the emergency response.



On Thursday, the court summoned a local journalist who had lunch with Mazon on the day of the floods - October 29, 2024.