Carlos Mazón, the center-right president of Spain’s Valencia region, announced his resignation Monday, caving to pressure to take political responsibility for the devastating floods in which 229 people died one year ago.
It became evident last week that if Spain’s conservatives want to keep governing in the region, Mazón had to go. Backed by the People’s Party (PP) leadership, the regional president had been able to resist the tens of thousands of Valencians who called for his resignation in mass protests over the past 12 months.
But the breaking point came at last Wednesday’s state funeral for the victims, at which King Felipe VI and other bewildered dignitaries watched mourning families shout insults at Mazón, whom they referred to as an “assassin.” After a weekend of “reflection” and a talk with PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the regional president admitted Monday he couldn’t “do it anymore.”
Mazón is seen as the embodiment of the regional government’s botched response to the catastrophe.
In the lead-up to the floods, the PP politician downplayed the threat posed by the severe weather forecast in the region. It was later revealed that Mazón had remained at a private lunch with a female journalist as the storm raged and did not show up at the crisis center until after dark. His absence is cited as a factor in the regional authority’s decision to delay sending an SMS alert warning locals of the danger until 8:28 p.m., when most of the victims had already drowned.
Within days of the disaster, victims’ families began demanding that Mazón take political responsibility for the disaster and resign. But despite the mounting evidence that the regional government had mismanaged the crisis, PP leader Feijóo backed the center-right politician.
Feijóo’s initial willingness to support Mazón reflects Valencia’s importance for the PP. The region is one of the fastest growing in Spain, and its conquest by the conservatives in 2023 was seen as a major victory for the party. But the center-right governs in minority in Valencia, and there were fears that Mazón’s ouster could jeopardize the hard-won prize. So Spain’s conservatives were mobilized to shift blame onto center-left political figures like Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, then-Deputy Prime Minister Teresa Ribera, and even the scientists at the country’s National Meteorological Agency.
Over the past 12 months, however, Spanish courts exonerated both Sánchez and Ribera, underscoring that the regional government was the only entity authorized to manage the crisis. Spain’s state forecasters have similarly been cleared, with evidence proving their warnings about the coming storms were ignored.
In the meantime, the Valencian judge leading the probe meant to establish blame for the disaster has indicted members of Mazón’s team, and only spared the center-right politician because his presidential status means he can only be indicted by Valencia’s High Court of Justice.
Mazón on Monday recognized that he had made “mistakes,” but bitterly complained that he was the victim of a “brutal campaign” to force his ouster. He declined to dissolve the Valencian parliament and call snap elections, or to resign his post as a lawmaker, ensuring he maintains a degree of judicial immunity.
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