Hundreds demand Valencian president resign in protest in Barcelona

Hundreds of people gathered on Thursday in front of the People's Party (PP) Barcelona offices to protest against the management of the flood crisis by Valencian regional president, Carlos Mazón, and calling for him to resign.

Demonstrators shouted slogans such as 'Mazón to prison', 'Mazón criminal,' or 'PP criminal body'.

Those gathered also held a vigil in memory of the victims of the tragedy, 211 dead and 90 missing in Valencia according to the official figures offered so far.

The event coincided with others held in about 20 towns in solidarity with the victims of the disaster and to "demand responsibility from politicians and businesspeople."

At one point during the protest, the crowd threw mud at the party office building.

Tània Ros, spokesperson for the Students' Union of the Catalan Countries (SEPC), one of the organizers of the protest, denounced the "negligence" of the Valencian government and called for "criminal charges" for "all the politicians who prioritized economic income over the safety of the population."

The "lack of foresight" and "bad management" of the disaster showed that the regional government are "directly responsible for all the victims of the disaster" and demanded Mazón's "immediate resignation."

Flood danger warning should have been sent "immediately"

New audio obtained by radio station Cadena Ser reveals that a technician from a state emergency response unit informed authorities that an alert over the danger of flooding should be sent out "immediately," at 7.15 pm, due to the danger the situation posed.

Instead, the first warning was only sent at some moment after 8 pm.

In the conversation that the radio station has had access to are Valencia's regional interior minister, Salomé Pradas, and the delegate of the Spanish government in Valencia, Pilar Bernabé.

The delegate asks if the messages are reaching the affected population before the technician says that the message must be sent through mobile phones and the media.

On Thursday, Pradas said that he did not know of the possibility of sending mass alerts until 8 pm, shortly before the first was sent.