Fury grows at Spanish state’s flood response

November 5, 2024 –
From Socialist Worker (UK)

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People pelted the king and queen with mud and rocks

Outrage is growing among people in Valencia, Spain, at a right wing regional government that failed to warn people of last week’s deadly flash floods and has acted too slowly to help people. Over 200 people are now known to have died in the floods and there are more still reported missing.

The central government has sent 10,000 troops and police to the region. But the disaster has also seen thousands of working class people volunteering to clean mud from homes and workplaces.

In the town of Chiva, military units were slow to arrive. Volunteers turned the Astoria Cinema into a supply hub, handing out donated bottles of water, fruit and sandwiches. People are using their tractors to remove debris from the streets.

Jorge, an anti-capitalist and anti-racist activist in Valencia told Socialist Worker, “There’s been a massive wave of solidarity. There has especially been a big mobilisation by the ‘red belt’ of working class districts south of Valencia, which have been hardest hit.”

Jorge explained that these are not just “spontaneous” mobilisations. They are the result of the activities of social movements that have been active in Valencia for many years.

In Paiporta, angry locals pelted the king and queen with mud and rocks when they tried to visit. Spain’s president Pedro Sanchez—from the Labour-type PSOE—cut short his visit after people attacked him, one of them battered his car with a shovel.

Jorge fears that the far right are adding fuel to the fire, using these protests to build from people’s rage and feelings of abandonment. “The far right is trying to take advantage of the terrible situation to gain support, for example attacking the prime minister Pedro Sánchez.

“This is partly their way of trying to divert the blame from the regional government in Valencia, led by the right wing People’s Party (PP) and supported by the far-right Vox. And also they try to blame migrants, trying to provoke hatred out of the desperation of people who have lost everything.

“But the far right are a very small minority, compared to a massive mobilisation of solidarity by thousands of ordinary people, both from Valencia and outside. Their weight has been exaggerated by the media, which is a problem in itself. I’ve been involved in the relief work and there they are invisible.”

Jorge added that migrants have been involved in cooking food for people as part of the relief effort. Carlos Mazon, who heads the regional government, has also been attacked by flood survivors.

It is the regional government who are responsible for issuing warnings and responding to the disaster. When the rains started they didn’t close the schools or tell people to stay home from work. Until recently Mazon’s PP was in coalition with the climate denying far right Vox party after Vox received 12 percent of the vote in the 2023 regional elections.

When the coalition first got into office they closed down the emergency response service and implemented austerity policies that undermined health and education, especially in the small towns and villages – the same areas that are now facing the worst of the flooding.

Jorge added, “The call for the resignation of the Valencian president Mazon is massive, the PP is very marked by their actions. There is a united demonstration called for 9 November against Mazon.”

Source: Socialistworker.co.uk