A political spat over responsibility for the recent floods in eastern Spain, which claimed more than 200 lives, has been taken to Brussels, where it threatens to disrupt the renewal of the European Commission.
Teresa Ribera, Spain’s minister for environmental transition in the Socialist-led government, is the country’s candidate to become the commission’s new executive vice-president overseeing climate and competition policy. However, Spain’s main political opposition, the conservative Popular Party (PP), is leading attempts to block her appointment, arguing that she is to blame for the damage caused by the floods because they come under her ministerial remit.
“There is no possibility that the Popular Party will support a European Commission with Teresa Ribera in it,” the PP’s European spokeswoman, Dolors Montserrat, said. “So we will see if MEPs sponsor with their votes a [minister] who has a problem with public management and responsibility regarding [floods] in which 220 Europeans lost their lives in Valencia and Castilla-La Mancha.”
The Mediterranean region of Valencia was the worst hit by the October 29th floods. Several people remain missing, and towns affected are still clearing water, mud and debris from buildings.
At a hearing last week to test Ribera’s suitability for the commission post, Spanish conservative MEPs used the session to criticise her fiercely for her alleged responsibility for the tragedy. The PP is hoping that Manfred Weber, leader of the conservative European People’s Party, will put his weight behind the campaign against the minister, potentially causing an impasse in the commission.
“The torrential rain in Valencia on October 29th could end up causing a serious institutional crisis in the European Union,” said author and political commentator Enric Juliana. “The question is how far is Weber willing to go?”
The fallout from the floods has led to a bitter dispute over regional and central government jurisdictions.
The Spanish government and many others see the blaming of Ribera as an attempt by the PP to deflect attention from its regional president of Valencia, Carlos Mazón, who has faced widespread criticism for his response to the crisis.
The national meteorological agency (AEMET) issued a red alert warning early on the morning the rain struck. However, Mazón’s administration took more than 12 hours to issue its own emergency alert to the phones of Valencians advising them to take precautions. It has emerged that Mazón missed a crisis meeting that same afternoon because he was having a 3½-hour lunch in a restaurant with a female journalist, during which time the flood waters were already causing enormous damage in some areas.
Mazón has insisted that he was informed of the situation during the meal, although Ribera has said he did not answer her calls. He has also come under fire for eliminating an agency created to co-ordinate the response to emergencies.
On November 9th an estimated 130,000 people took to the streets of Valencia to express their anger at the response to the disaster under the slogan “Mazón resign”. Last week he acknowledged that “there were mistakes” and the PP’s support for him has been lukewarm. However, he has refused to step down, instead blaming the AEMET and a hydrographic agency, both overseen by Ribera’s ministry, for not providing enough information.
This week Mazón is expected to announce personnel changes in his government in a bid to ease the pressure on him. On Wednesday Ribera is due to appear in Congress to face questions about the disaster.
Diana Morant, Spanish minister for science and innovation, suggested the regional president should be replaced. “We have to say to Mr Mazón that no, the system is not a faulty one, the Valencia regional government is not a faulty institution, he is the one who failed.”
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