One year on from devastating floods, tens of thousands take to streets in Valencia

Around 50,000 people took to the streets of Valencia on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the devastating floods that took the lives of 231 people.

The demonstration also demanded the resignation of the regional Valencian president, the People's Party's Carlos Mazón, something which hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated for last year in the wake of the disaster.

Four days out from the first anniversary of the floods, people gathered under the slogan 'The people have grown'.

Throughout the protest, demonstrators chanted slogans denouncing the management of the catastrophe, including "president in Picassent," referring to the prison, "Mazón resign," and "more firefighters and less bullfighters."

Speaking to the press at the start of the march, organizers regretted that many of the problems from October 29 last year "are still pending" resolution. 

"They drowned a year ago, and those responsible are still in the Valencian government," Toni Valero, of the local emergency and reconstruction committee, said. "It could probably happen again, there are no emergency plans."

The president of the fatal victims association, Rosa Álvarez, highlighted that they not only want Mazón to resign, but believe that he should go to prison. "The resignation might have been worth it at the beginning, but now it's too late, now we're asking for prison," she said.

Álvarez explained that they have felt "a lot of support from the Valencian people" and "some" administrations, but "quite the opposite" from the Valencian government. "We feel mistreated," she said, accusing Mazón's government of "institutional violence."

"They are trying to dehumanize us," she lamented, adding that her group receives abuse on social media. 

Paco, one of the locals who turned out to protest, said he was disappointed because "the only thing" politicians have done in the last year was "fight and lie." "We still do not know where Mr. Mazón was in the key hours" of the day last year.

Maria Josefa, also a resident of Valencia, explained that she no longer has the pain of the beginning, but that the anger persists. "Now, we are angry. We want him to leave, we don't want him," she said.

Annabel, a young woman from Picassent, regretted that the repair has been very slow, and was disappointed in the lack of psychological support for victims.