Spain floods: Accusations fly over who is to blame for disaster

A week on, recriminations fly over who was to blame for Spain's worst natural disaster in living memory.

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An initial image of cross-party unity has been replaced by disputes over which institutions had jurisdiction in the disaster areas where at least 218 people lost their lives.

In the immediate aftermath of the floods, Valencia regional leader Carlos Mazón of the conservative People’s Party (PP) welcomed Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and thanked him for his government’s support.

It was an unusual sight in the context of Spain’s deeply polarised politics, with Mazón even calling Sánchez "dear prime minister".

Valencia's regional leader has faced criticism for taking around 12 hours to respond to a red weather warning by Spain's national meteorological office (Aemet) on 29 October and issue an alert directly to people’s phones, by which time the flood was already causing enormous damage.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8xy03zk44o

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