VALENCIA, Spain (AP) 鈥 Tens of thousands of Spaniards marched in the eastern city of Valencia on Saturday to demand the resignation of the regional president in charge of the emergency response to last week鈥檚 catastrophic floods that left more than 200 dead and others missing.
A group of protestors clashed with riot police in front of Valencia's city hall, where the protestors started their march to the seat of the regional government. Police used batons to beat them back.
Regional leader Carlos Maz贸n is under immense pressure after his administration failed to issue flood alerts to citizens鈥 cellphones until on the night of Oct. 29.
Many marchers held up homemade signs or chanted 鈥淢az贸n Resign!鈥 Others carried signs with messages like 鈥淵ou Killed Us!鈥 Upon arrival at the regional government seat, some protesters slung mud on the building and left handprints of the muck on its facade.
Earlier on Saturday, Maz贸n told regional broadcaster 脌 Punt that 鈥渢here will be time to hold officials accountable,鈥 but that now 鈥渋s time to keep cleaning our streets, helping people and rebuilding.鈥
He said that he 鈥渞espected鈥 the march.
Maz贸n, of the conservative Popular Party, is also being criticized for what people perceive as the slow and chaotic response to the natural disaster. Thousands of volunteers were the in many of the hardest hit areas on Valencia鈥檚 southern outskirts. It took days for officials to mobilize the thousands of police reinforcements and soldiers that the regional government asked central authorities to send in.
In Spain, regional governments are charged with handling civil protection and can ask the national government in Madrid, led by the Socialists, for extra resources.
Maz贸n has defended his handling of the crisis saying that its magnitude was unforeseeable and that his administration didn鈥檛 receive sufficient warnings from central authorities.
But Spain鈥檚 weather agency issued a red alert, the highest level of warning, for bad weather as early as 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning as the disaster loomed.
Some communities were flooded by 6 p.m. It took until after 8 p.m. for Maz贸n鈥檚 administration to send out alerts to people鈥檚 cellphones.
Maz贸n was with Spain鈥檚 royals and Socialist prime minister when they were by enraged residents during their first visit to a devastated area last weekend.
Sara S谩nchez Gurillo attended the protest because she had lost her brother-in-law, 62-year-old Candido Molina Pulgar铆n. She said his body was found in a field of orange trees after he was trapped by the water in his home in the town of Cheste, west of Valencia.
She wanted Maz贸n to go, but also had harsh words for the country's leaders.
鈥淚t鈥檚 shameful what has happened,鈥 S谩nchez said. 鈥淭hey knew that the sky was going to fall and yet they didn鈥檛 warn anyone. They didn鈥檛 evacuate the people. We want them to resign!鈥
鈥淭he central government should have taken charge. They should have sent in the army earlier. The king should have made them send it in. Why do we want him as a symbolic figure? He is worthless. The people are alone. They have abandoned us.鈥
The death toll stood at 220 victims on Saturday, with 212 coming in the eastern Valencia region, as the .
Thousands more lost their homes and streets are still covered in mud and debris 11 days since the arrival of a tsunami-like wave following a record deluge.
___ Joseph Wilson reported from Barcelona.
