Tens of thousands protested and demanded the resignation of the regional head

Tens of thousands of people have demonstrated in Valencia against the authorities’ handling of the latest deadly floods, demanding the resignation of regional head Carlos Mazón.

The protesters were chanting, “we are smeared with mud, you are smeared with blood” when they left the street on Saturday evening.

More than 200 people have died in this flood, caused by heavy rains that hit Valencia and neighboring states in October. 80 people are still missing.

Protesters accused local authorities of issuing flood warnings too late.

“We want to show our anger and our anger at the mishandling of this tragedy that has affected so many people,” said Anna Oliver, one of the organizers of the protest, speaking to the Reuters news agency.

Last week the king and queen of Spain were pelted with mud and other objects by angry protesters during a visit to the town of Paiporta, one of the worst affected.

Things were also thrown at Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who was quickly dismissed.

Thousands of people have lost their homes and roads in many areas are still covered in mud and debris.

Mazón, of the Conservative Popular Party, defended his actions. He says his officials did not get enough warning from the central government and the magnitude of the disaster was unexpected.

In Spain, regional governments are responsible for disaster management and can request additional resources from the central government in Madrid.

Spain’s weather agency has issued storm warnings for the region since October 25, but authorities in Valencia did not issue warnings to local cellphones until several hours after the floods began.

The local councilor in charge of emergency services admitted that he did not know there was a texting system.

Local media reported that, as the flooding began, Mazón met for lunch with a reporter and did not arrive at the emergency coordination meeting until 19:00 local time (18:00 GMT).

Government sources told El País newspaper that this was “not important” and that Mazón was kept informed of events.

The flooding in Valencia was caused by the Dana phenomenon – when warm, moist air meets cold air, creating unstable weather.

Scientists say hot weather is making floods worse.