Sánchez appears before the Spanish Congress due to the rain catastrophe; announces about 2 billion euros in aid
▲ The president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, told deputies yesterday that the president of Valencia was not up to the task in the tragedy.Photo Afp
Armando G. Tejeda
Correspondent
La Jornada Newspaper
Thursday, November 28, 2024, p. 26
Madrid. The president of the Spanish government, the socialist Pedro Sánchez, appeared before the Congress of Deputies to explain his management during the natural disaster caused by torrential rains in several Spanish autonomous communities, especially in Valencia, where 222 people died, five are missing and tens of thousands of victims.
Almost a month after the events, the Spanish president appeared before Parliament, where he pointed out the Valencian regional president, the right-wing Carlos Mazón, for not having been up to parand announced a new phase of public investment in the reconstruction of the region, of more than 2.2 billion euros.
After the tragedy, Sánchez explained the actions of his government, highly questioned by the victims due to the delay in the deployment of military units specialized in emergencies and the lack of coordination of the bodies sent to the disaster area. He insisted that the powers in the relief and reconstruction tasks were from the affected autonomous communities: Valencia, Andalusia, Catalonia, Aragon, Murcia and Castilla-La Mancha, although the epicenter of the tragedy was recorded in towns of Valencia, in towns such as Paiporta, Chiva or Bennetusser.
Sánchez stated that The government of Spain is making a titanic effort so that the aid arrives as soon as possible, while announcing that this Thursday a new package of 60 measures for 2,264 million euros will be approved, with which in total the central government has already mobilized 16,600 million euros destined to reconstruction.
He added that regional officials will have to assume their responsibility.
The leader of the opposition, the right-wing Alberto Núñez Feijóo, replied that he had sheltered behind the tragedy to cover the stench of corruption that surrounds himin reference to the cases that the justice system is investigating and that affect his former right-hand man and former Minister of Development, José Luis Ábalos, his wife, Begoña Gómez, and his brother, David Sánchez.
On another issue, the Socialist Party of Madrid (PSM) called for the resignation of regional leader Juan Lobato, after disseminating a series of communications with officials of the presidency of the government related to confidential information of the judicial case that affects the girlfriend of the president of the Community of Madrid, the right-wing Isabel Díaz Ayuso. The party leadership seeks to renew the leadership of the PSM with the appointment of Óscar López, current Minister of Digital Transformation.
