MADRID(Reuters) -Carlos Mazon, the leader of Spain’s eastern Valencia region, said on Monday he was stepping down over his administration’s handling of catastrophic floods that swept over the region a year ago.
Mazon has faced daily calls for his resignation, including from victims’ relatives, since the torrential downpour on October 29, 2024 killed 229 people and caused billions of euros in damages, mainly in suburbs south of Valencia, Spain’s third-largest city.
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 worst flood-related event in Europe since 1967.
Mazon’s resignation came on the same day Maribel Vilaplana, a local journalist with whom he was eating lunch on the day of the floods, was set to testify before a judge investigating authorities’ criminal liability for the deaths.
(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Aislinn Laing)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.