Spaniards have taken to the streets of Valencia to demand the resignation of the regional leader. Last year, flash floods in the region claimed 229 lives.Tens of thousands of people on Saturday protested in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia, one year after the floods that killed 229 people.
Demonstrators were demanding the resignation of regional leader Carlos Mazon over his handling of the disaster.
They displayed banners with messages such as “Mazon to prison” and chanted, “They didn’t die, they were murdered.”
With a total of 229 deaths, it was Europe’s worst flood-related disaster since 1967. CatastropheSpain
Spain: Tens of thousands protest a year after deadly floods
Spaniards have taken to the streets of Valencia to demand the resignation of the regional leader. Last year, flash floods in the region claimed 229 lives.
Thousands gather for the demonstration on the first anniversary of the DANA disaster in Valencia, Spain on October 25, 2025
Protesters called on regional leader Carlos Mazon to resign
Tens of thousands of people on Saturday protested in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia, one year after the floods that killed 229 people.
Demonstrators were demanding the resignation of regional leader Carlos Mazon over his handling of the disaster.
They displayed banners with messages such as “Mazon to prison” and chanted, “They didn’t die, they were murdered.”
With a total of 229 deaths, it was Europe’s worst flood-related disaster since 1967.
Thousands gather for the demonstration on the first anniversary of the Dana disaster in Valencia, Spain on October 25, 2025Thousands gather for the demonstration on the first anniversary of the Dana disaster in Valencia, Spain on October 25, 2025
Regional leader Carlos Mazon has been under immense pressure, with regular protests against him on or near the monthly anniversaries of the disasterImage: Jorge Gil/Europa Press/dpa/picture alliance
Spain’s deadliest floods in modern history
Mazon’s administration has been heavily criticized for issuing an alert too late.
The warning arrived more than 12 hours after the national weather agency had issued its highest alert level for torrential rains.
Residents told Spanish media that muddy water was already surrounding their cars, flooding streets and pouring into their homes by the time they received the messages.
Under Spain’s decentralized system, managing disasters falls under the authority of regional governments.
However, Mazon claimed that his administration lacked the necessary information to issue a warning sooner and said that the magnitude was unforeseeable.
