Residents in stricken areas accuse Mazon of issuing an alert too late, at 20:00 local time on October 29, well after water was already pouring into many nearby towns and villages.
The Valencian leader has said he would have issued an earlier alarm earlier if authorities had been notified of the seriousness of the situation by an official water monitoring body. Mazon did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
“We want to show our indignation and anger over the poor management of this disaster which has affected so many people,” said Anna Oliver, president of Accio Cultural del Pais Valenciano, one of about 30 groups that organised the protest.
Though the demonstration was largely peaceful, police charged stone-throwing protesters at one point and objects hurled at the city council building caused minor damage.
