VALENCIA: Spain commemorated Wednesday the anniversary of last year’s massive floods that killed over 230 people with a national memorial ceremony led by King Felipe VI.
The Spanish King spoke along with three family members of victims who lost their lives when torrential rains flooded large parts of eastern Spain on the evening of Oct. 29, 2024.
The downpour quickly filled normally dry gorges and riverbeds. Rushing waters overflowed their banks, sweeping away cars and destroying homes. There are 237 confirmed deaths, with 229 victims from the eastern Valencia region, according to the central government.
It was one of Europe’s worst natural disasters in living memory. Experts and the government said it was a sign of the dangers of climate change that is driving extreme weather events around the world.
The ceremony was held at a public museum in Valencia city, whose southern neighborhoods and adjoining towns were devastated. Cleanup efforts initially led by thousands of residents and volunteers took weeks to scoop up the layers of mud and debris.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, representatives from Spain’s other regions and families of the deceased also attended.
Valencia’s regional president, Carlos Mazón, was jeered and insulted by several family members of victims before the ceremony started.
Mazón has been heavily criticized for his administration’s slow response to the floods. There have been several large street protests calling for Mazón to step down, and the latest one drew tens of thousands of demonstrators a few days before the funeral. Mazón has clung to power nonetheless even though his management of the flooding remains a drag on the prospects of his center-right Popular Party.
Mazón, King Felipe and Sánchez were pelted with mud when the three made their first joint visit last year to the disaster zone with many people still missing and neighborhoods without power and covered in mire. The king has since made several visits to the area and been well received.
Spain holds memorial ceremony for flood victims a year after disaster killed over 230 people
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Spain holds memorial ceremony for flood victims a year after disaster killed over 230 people
- The ceremony was held at a public museum in Valencia city
- Mazón has been heavily criticized for his administration’s slow response to the floods
Hundreds rally in Paris to support Ukraine after four years of war
- Demonstrators chanted: “We support Ukraine against Putin, who is killing it“
- “Frozen Russian assets must be confiscated, they belong to Ukraine“
PARIS: Around one thousand took to the streets of Paris on Saturday to show their “massive support” for Ukraine, just days before the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
Demonstrators marching through the French capital chanted: “We support Ukraine against Putin, who is killing it,” and “Frozen Russian assets must be confiscated, they belong to Ukraine.”
“In public opinion, there is massive support for Ukraine that has not wavered since the first day of the full-scale invasion” by the Russian army on February 24, 2022, European Parliament member Raphael Glucksmann, told AFP.
“On the other hand, in the French political class, sounds of giving up are starting to emerge. On both the far left and the far right, voices of capitulation are getting louder and louder,” he added.
In the crowd, Irina Kryvosheia, a Ukrainian who arrived in France several years ago, “thanked with all her heart the people present.”
She said they reminded “everyone that what has been happening for four years is not normal, it is not right.”
Kryvosheia said she remains in daily contact with her parents in Kyiv, who told her how they were deprived “for several days” of heating, electricity and running water following intense bombardments by the Russian army.
Francois Grunewald, head of “Comite d’Aide Medicale Ukraine,” had just returned from a one-month mission in the country, where the humanitarian organization has delivered around forty generators since the beginning of the year.
Russia’s full-scale invasion sent shockwaves around the world and triggered the bloodiest and most destructive conflict in Europe since World War II.
The war has seen tens of thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of military personnel killed on both sides. Millions of refugees have fled Ukraine, where vast areas have been devastated by fighting.
Russia occupies nearly 20 percent of Ukrainian territory and its heavy attacks on the country’s energy sites have sparked a major energy crisis.
