As Spain grapples with the fallout from flash floods on Tuesday, the blame game has begun, with disaster relief agencies accused of being slow to respond.
Much of the country has been hit hard by heavy rains and hail, causing flooding in many areas and killing at least 72 people.
But the civil defense agencies deployed during natural disasters did not issue an alert until 20:15 local time on Tuesday, when the floods had already caused huge damage.
A headline on Le Monde’s website read: “The magnitude of the tragedy raises questions about whether people were warned too late: Civil protection authorities raised the alarm only when towns were already flooded.”
As the newspaper went on to note, “Hundreds of people were stranded overnight on industrial estates and roads from Tuesday into Wednesday as roads were cut off and access was cut off.”
Accusations flowed on social media as people asked why local governments and politicians were not better prepared.
“The handling of the events in Valencia was negligent and irresponsible,” attorney Isabel Diaz wrote. “People have died due to the incompetence of those responsible.”
Another social media user named Santo March said the national weather agency “can’t predict this, but they can predict the weather 20-30 years from now.”
Meanwhile, cost-cutting is emerging as another potential culprit.
Valencia regional president, conservative Carlos Masson, has been forced to defend his decision to cancel the Valencian Emergency Team (UVE), citing its inefficiency.
UVE was created by the former left-wing government to respond to weather-related emergencies such as floods or wildfires. Mr Masson immediately got rid of it after taking office last year, with his People’s Party (PP) describing the agency as “a shadowy organization”.
In a statement, the Intersindical union criticized the decision, saying “by prioritizing short-term gains, they will lead to environmental degradation and exacerbate the impact of extreme weather phenomena”.
Catalan nationalist politician Gabriel Rufián also criticized UVE’s cancellation, saying Mr Masson was “proud” to dismantle the agency.
The regional government of Valencia responded that UVE was “just another fictitious organization with zero firefighters, zero materials and zero efficiency”.
However, others pointed to the Valencian leader’s media appearance on Tuesday, when he said heavy rainfall was expected to “abate” from around 18:00 local time.
Instead, it began to wreak havoc across much of the region.
Politicians in some of the affected towns have been particularly vocal. Alcudia mayor Andreu Salom said he felt “abandoned and absolutely powerless”.
“As mayor, no one told me about the danger that the Magri River might burst its banks,” he said. “The whole town was filled with water, mud and debris.”
Mr Masson insisted emergency services had been on alert since Monday and that this particular weather event made it difficult to know exactly what advice should be given to Valencians.
“Experts talk about absolutely unprecedented conditions,” he said, citing the “unexpected nature of meteorology.”
Activists, meanwhile, are calling for faster and tougher action to halt climate change they say is causing flooding.
“The climate emergency is not an abstract concept, but a reality that affects our lives and, in this case, even takes lives,” said Eva Saldanha, executive director of Greenpeace Spain.
Jorge Olcina, a climate scientist at the University of Alicante and co-author of a recent report on climate change in Spain, told Cadena Ser radio that the recent floods are “Mediterranean evidence of climate change,” explaining, It’s changing the way it rains”.
He also said that warnings issued by the National Weather Service should be enough to keep people indoors and out of harm’s way, but “even if there is a red alert, people want to go about their normal lives.”
