On November 3, 2025, Carlos Mazón, the president of Spain’s Valencia region, announced his resignation after a year of mounting criticism and public outrage over his administration’s response to the catastrophic floods that devastated the area on October 29, 2024. The disaster, which claimed the lives of 229 people in Valencia and eight more in neighboring regions, stands as Spain’s deadliest natural calamity in decades and the worst flood Europe has seen in over half a century, according to Reuters.
The resignation of Mazón, a member of the conservative People’s Party (PP), came after months of relentless pressure from opposition parties, victims’ families, and the broader public. The outcry centered on what many perceived as a series of grave missteps during the crisis. Chief among these was the administration’s failure to issue timely evacuation warnings and coordinate rescue efforts effectively, a point that was repeatedly highlighted in Spanish media and echoed by grieving relatives.
According to BBC, Mazón’s government did not send emergency alerts to residents’ phones until after 8:00 PM on the day of the floods—by which time dozens had already perished and entire neighborhoods were submerged. This alert came more than 12 hours after Spain’s national weather agency, AEMET, had issued its highest-level warning for torrential rain. For many, the delay proved fatal. Residents recounted to reporters how the alerts arrived only after floodwaters had already engulfed their homes and streets, leaving them little time to react. One survivor from Paiporta described receiving the alert while stranded in a tree, with floodwaters swirling below and bodies floating past, as reported by France 24.
Mazón’s actions on the day of the disaster added fuel to the fire. Instead of taking charge of the emergency response, he spent nearly four hours in a restaurant with journalist Maribel Vilaplana, missing critical emergency meetings. During her testimony before a judge investigating possible negligence, Vilaplana stated that Mazón “was constantly texting on his phone” and “received a lot of calls,” but did not leave the lunch to address the unfolding crisis, according to Spanish media reports cited by BBC.
As the weeks and months passed, anger in Valencia only grew. Monthly protests were organized, often coinciding with anniversaries of the flood. The most recent, held on October 25, 2025, saw more than 50,000 people march through the streets of Valencia, many holding photos of lost loved ones and banners demanding Mazón’s resignation. A poll published in October 2025 by El País found that 71% of Valencia residents believed Mazón should step down, a sentiment echoed in the chants of “murderer,” “coward,” and “get out” hurled at him during the first anniversary memorial service for the victims.
Mazón, visibly shaken by the hostility at the memorial, admitted the public’s anger had become overwhelming. In his televised resignation address, he acknowledged his failings: “I can’t go on anymore... I know that I made mistakes, I acknowledge it and I will live with them for the rest of my life. I have said sorry and I say it again, but none of [the mistakes] were due to political calculation or bad faith.” He also conceded, “I should have had the political vision to cancel my appointments and visit the affected areas on the day of the disaster.”
The floods left a trail of devastation across 78 municipalities, mainly in the southern suburbs of Valencia, sweeping away approximately 130,000 vehicles, destroying thousands of homes, and generating an estimated 800,000 tonnes of debris. The economic toll ran into billions of euros. Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo stated that the central government had provided 8.2 billion euros (about $9.6 billion) in direct aid for Valencia’s recovery, a claim Mazón disputed, accusing Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s left-wing government of “blocking aid to his region purely to cause us political damage.” The central government, for its part, maintained that its agencies had acted with “technical rigour” and provided essential data throughout the crisis.
Political tensions between the regional PP government and the Socialist-led national administration only intensified in the aftermath. Mazón blamed the national weather agency and the body overseeing the regional hydrological network—both under the Energy and Environment Ministry—for failing to provide adequate warnings. He also revealed that he had not requested the central government declare a national emergency, a move that would have shifted responsibility to Madrid, because PP party chief and national opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo advised against it. Feijóo later stated that it was up to Sánchez to declare such an emergency, further fueling the blame game between regional and national leaders.
Analysts and political observers noted that Mazón’s continued presence had become a liability for the PP, both regionally and nationally. Historian Joan Esculies told Reuters that the timing of Mazón’s resignation was more about the party’s electoral prospects than personal accountability, as the far-right Vox party has been gaining ground in Valencia and the PP relies on its support to maintain a parliamentary majority. The process of choosing Mazón’s successor is expected to be complicated, as the PP must negotiate with Vox to secure the necessary votes in the regional assembly. His successor will likely serve out the legislative term until May 2027, though uncertainty remains over the possibility of a snap election.
Despite stepping down as president, Mazón will remain a member of the regional parliament, a position that grants him immunity from prosecution in the ongoing negligence investigation. This decision has not sat well with many victims’ families and activists. Rosa Alvarez, who leads an association representing flood victims, told SER radio, “He is still repeating lies and making it look like he’s the victim.” She credited the families and public protests—not the party leadership—for forcing Mazón’s resignation: “It was the families of the victims and all the people who have supported us, who have given us encouragement and affection, who made him resign.”
As Valencia continues to rebuild, the scars of the 2024 floods—and the political turmoil that followed—remain raw. The tragedy has not only reshaped the region’s landscape but also its political future, with questions lingering over accountability, preparedness, and the sometimes fraught relationship between regional and national authorities. For many, the hope is that lessons learned from this disaster will lead to better protection and swifter action when the next crisis emerges.
