Mazón keeps running as Valencia flood scandal refuses to die down

Mazón jogging in the middle of an emergency: the scandal that won't go away

While the Ceuta crisis dominates the Spanish government's agenda, the president of the Valencian Generalitat (the regional government) is once again at the centre of political unrest. The image of Mazón out running while everything was falling apart has become the visual summary of the flood response: the same man who, critics say, failed to trigger the alert in time and left Valencians to fend for themselves.

What exactly is he blamed for

The core of the accusations points to the handling of the emergency: the alert that failed to sound when it should have, and the delayed response. The responsibility, it is argued, lay with the Generalitat, which held the relevant powers. Meanwhile, Mazón continues to draw his salary as a regional MP, with an official car, advisers and his status as a protected official (aforado, meaning he can only be tried by a higher court). None of that is illegal, but it fuels public anger.

Some consider Mazón politically finished, but the issue is far from closed: the comparison with Ceuta is used by both sides, by those talking of an invasion and by those who see yet another circus staged by the globalists.

The defence: Madrid has its share of blame too

Against the current demanding that Mazón alone be held accountable, others argue the problem is systemic. They are calling for a mass trial at the Audiencia Nacional (Spain's national incivil court) with between 30 and 40 defendants from both administrations, including mayors and provincial councils. They lament that, in the end, only a few pay the legal price: so far, on this reading, one regional minister and one technician. The Ceuta crisis is presented as proof that the same script keeps repeating itself.

A symbol for the political calendar

The image of the president exercising while the alert that never reached people's phones should have been sounding has plenty of mileage left. It doesn't matter whether the account that spread it has its own agenda: Spanish politics hunts for symbols, and this one has thrived. For some it is proof of contempt; for others, the perfect excuse to avoid talking about other responsibilities.

The exchange of accusations does not settle who should have pressed the alert button. The only thing both warring sides agree on is that the bill, as always, is paid by those at the bottom.