For Carlos Mazón, Tuesday — the day of the flood — was a fairly light day by the standards of the president of Spain’s fourth-largest region.
After kicking off the day by receiving a certificate for his region’s achievements in sustainable tourism, the Valencian leader launched a new online health care assistant powered by artificial intelligence and held budget talks with business groups.
As the president attended these events, throughout Tuesday — and for several days preceding — Spain’s national weather service was sending his regional government increasingly urgent warnings that a flood of catastrophic proportions was approaching. While Mazón was posing for pictures, officials from emergency services and crisis management agencies were huddled in meeting rooms. Heavy rains were already causing rivers to overflow.
The Valencian government’s apparently slow reaction to the unfolding catastrophe is now under scrutiny. In an interview with POLITICO on Wednesday, an official from Spain’s national government questioned why Mazón’s administration, which has the statutory responsibility to lead crisis management in the region, had waited until 8 p.m. on Tuesday night to issue text alerts to people, many of whom were caught unaware by the rushing water.
