MADRID (AP) — The Spanish regional leader facing immense pressure for his handling of the catastrophic Valencia floods last month defied calls to step down Friday, but conceded that authorities made mistakes in their response to the disaster.
More than 220 people were killed from the powerful Oct. 29 storms that brought tsunami-like waves to parts of eastern and central Spain, wrecking countless homes and leaving entire towns caked in mud.
Carlos Mazón of the conservative Popular Party addressed regional lawmakers in Valencia more than two weeks later, saying he would “not deny failings” as anger has continued to grow at what people perceive was a slow and chaotic response.
The storm, he said, “showed that our detection and warning systems have cracks in them.”
His remarks Friday were the first detailed public comments he has made about his government's disaster response, coming six days after tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Valencia city calling for his resignation.
Criticism mounted after local authorities failed to send emergency alerts sooner to cell phones on Oct. 29, in spite of Spain’s national weather forecaster having issued the highest level of warning as early as 7:30 a.m. that day.
Spaniards, particularly in Valencia, have been critical of other aspects of the regional and national government’s initial response to the disaster. In hard-hit Paiporta, survivors pelted mud at Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, King Felipe VI, and Mazón when the three leaders visited the town days after the floods.
Mazón’s reputation took another beating this week when local media reported that he had a three-hour lunch with a journalist on the day of the storm, while some towns and villages had already started to fill with water.
On Friday, Mazón repeated a previous assertion that a national body responsible for measuring river flows had provided insufficient warnings, and said the magnitude of the deluge was hard to foresee.
“It is legitimate to question in general whether the (emergency) system responded how we believed it should,” Mazón said, adding that it had not.
Spain’s decentralized government tasks regional authorities with handling civil protection. Regional governments can ask the national government in Madrid, now led by the Socialists, for extra resources, and use information from the national weather forecaster and other agencies.
Science minister Diana Morant who belongs to the Socialist party called Mazon’s speech an “act of political cowardice.” She said the Popular Party should dismiss him.
Most of the victims of last month's floods died in small towns just outside Valencia. Official data released on Thursday showed that almost half were 70 years or older.
Residents remove their belongings from their houses affected by flooding in Benagarmosa, Malaga, Spain, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Marrero)
Cleveland (2-7) at New Orleans (3-7)
Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, Fox.
BetMGM NFL Odds: Saints by 1.
Against the spread: Browns 3-6; Saints 4-6.
Series record: Browns lead 13-6.
Last meeting: Saints won 17-10 at Cleveland on Dec. 24, 2022.
Last week: Browns were off; Saints beat Falcons 20-17.
Browns offense: overall (31), rush (28), pass (28), scoring (29).
Browns defense: overall (16), rush (14), pass (13), scoring (21).
Saints offense: overall (16), rush (13), pass (16), scoring (16).
Saints defense: overall (28), rush (27), pass (29), scoring (t23).
Turnover differential: Browns minus-7; Saints plus-4.
It's something of a homecoming for QB Jameis Winston, who spent four seasons with the Saints from 2020-23. Winston was popular among his teammates and the team's fan base, but didn't always see eye to eye with former coach Dennis Allen, who was recently fired. This will be Winston's third start for Cleveland since taking over when Deshaun Watson sustained a season-ending injury.
Versatile, 29-year-old RB Alvin Kamara, now in his eighth NFL season, became the Saints career leading rusher last week (6,544 yards), and has surpassed 100 yards from scrimmage in seven of 10 games this season, including his 109 yards from scrimmage last week.
Saints rookie LT Taliese Fuaga vs. Browns star DE Myles Garrett. The 22-year-old Fuaga faces the toughest test of his young career in Garrett, the reigning AP Defensive Player of the Year who is well rested, coming off a big performance and determined to get Cleveland's season turned around.
Browns: Rookie DT Mike Hall Jr. suffered a knee injury in practice Thursday and could be headed to injured reserve. Hall, who was suspended by the league earlier this season, had been expected to get some time at DE. ... LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (neck) was placed on injured reserve and will miss at least three more games. ... LB Jordan Hicks (elbow) is back after missing four of the past five games. .. ... Saints C Erik McCoy is expected to play for the first time since his Week 3 groin injury. ... OL Lucas Patrick has continues to labor through an ankle injury... RB Jamaal Williams has been sidelined from practice by a groin injury. ... LB Pete Werner has a hand injury and it wasn't clear this week whether he'd be able to play through it.
The Browns won their first eight games against the Saints from 1967-81. ... Cleveland is 8-3 at New Orleans. ... The Browns lost their previous visit to the Superdome in 2018. ... Most of the matchups have been competitive with 12 games decided by seven points or fewer.
The Browns are looking to revive a sinking season that began with Super Bowl aspirations. ... Winston's two starts have been polar opposites — 334 yards, 3 TDs in a debut win over Baltimore; three interceptions in a loss to the Chargers. ... Cleveland's running game has been disappointing but could find some traction now that RB Nick Chubb is feeling more comfortable after being sidelined the first six weeks following knee surgery. Chubb's next TD run will be the 50th of his career. ...Second-year WR Cedric Tillman's development has been one of the few bright spots this season. Tillman leads the Browns with three receiving TDs — all in the past two games. ... Cleveland's defense has had just one interception, but CB Denzel Ward leads the NFL with 15 passes defensed, including one each of the past nine games. He's the only player in the league with 10 passes defensed in each of the past seven seasons. ... Garrett had three sacks — his fourth career game with at least that many — against the Chargers two weeks ago. ... Garrett's 95 1/2 sacks since 2017 are the league's second most behind Pittsburgh's T.J. Watt (103). ... The Browns have gone 20 straight games without allowing a quarterback to pass for 300 yards ... Cleveland's defense has done a good job getting off the field in the second half, limiting teams to a league-low 21.6% conversion rate on third down (11 of 51). ... Saints QB Derek Carr passed for 269 yards and two TDs for a 126.9 rating in Week 10. ... Carr is 4-1 with 1,426 pass yards in five career starts vs. Cleveland and has a TD pass in five straight games against the Browns. ... RB Alvin Kamara has 100-plus scrimmage yards in three straight games. ... Kamara became the first RB with five-plus catches in seven straight games since Christian McCaffrey in 2019 and Kamara is the fifth RB in NFL history with 400-plus yards receiving in eight seasons. ... WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling had a season-high 109 yards receiving and two TDs in Week 10, his second-career game with two TDs. ... TE Taysom Hill had 56 yards and a TD rushing in these clubs’ previous meeting. ... TE Foster Moreau had seven catches in his previous game vs. Cleveland (on Dec. 20, 2021 with the Raiders). ... DE Cameron Jordan had his first sack this season last week. ... DE Payton Turner had a forced fumble, a pass defensed and his fifth career sack last week. ... DL Chase Young had a sack and his first forced fumble of the season in Week 10. ... LB Demario Davis led the Saints with 10 tackles and has a tackle for loss in two of his past three games against the Browns, a team for which he played in 2016. ... LB Pete Werner had five tackles and his first pass defensed of the season last week. ... Werner has a tackle for loss in two of his past three games. ... S Tyrann Mathieu had an interception and three passes defensed last week. He has three interceptions in 2024, his sixth straight season with at least that many.
Tillman's role expanded the moment the Browns traded No. 1 receiver Amari Cooper to Buffalo last month, and the second-year WR has embraced the opportunity. He's got 21 catches in his past three games and could be in line for another big performance against a Saints defense that ranks near the bottom of the NFL against the pass.
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Jameis Winston (5) celebrates after a win against the Baltimore Ravens in an NFL football game in Cleveland, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/David Richard)
Cleveland Browns quarterback Jameis Winston passes against the Los Angeles Chargers in the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) runs against the Atlanta Falcons during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
