If the first duty of a government is to keep its citizens alive, then the government at all levels in Spain, has epically failed the people of Valencia.

The biblical scenes of chaos and destruction in parts of that proud and beautiful region, wrought by last week’s catastrophic flood, represent a modern, human tragedy of generational proportions.

Compounding the disaster is the knowledge that the, as yet, unquantified loss of life which accompanied it, could so easily have been avoided.

In a region accustomed to seasonal heavy downpours, last week’s was unprecedented, with some areas receiving the equivalent of a year’s worth of rainfall in just eight hours.

Despite the Spanish meteorological office warning national and local governments that a potentially catastrophic weather event was expected, no contingency measures were put in place and the information was not passed on to Valencians, until it was too late.

By the time the regional government sent phone messages to citizens, urging them to stay indoors, thousands were already trapped in cars, engulfed by rising floodwater or, literally clinging to life as they were swept away by the deluge.

As rivers overflowed and flood defences were overwhelmed, people were literally drowning in the streets. More than 200 people are known to have died, with dozens more still unaccounted for, more than a week after the downpour.

Read more by Carlos Alba

The grisly search for bodies continues, in flooded underground carparks, garages, shops and even in people’s homes. I have friends in the region who have lost everything, but who feel blessed that, at least, they are still alive.

Once bustling towns and suburbs now more closely resemble a war zone, with hills of mud and silt instead of rubble. Recovery has been hampered by a slowness to act by government, leaving ordinary citizens to fend for themselves.

If anything positive has emerged from the disaster, it is the spirit of resilience and togetherness shown by ordinary Valencians, who mobilised an army of volunteers to begin the slow process of cleaning and rebuilding their neighbourhoods.

Sickeningly, they have also been left to distribute food, medicines, and other essentials while politicians dally and blame each other for failing to act.

What should have been a morale-boosting visit by Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, accompanied by King Felipe and Queen Letizia, to some of the worst hit localities at the weekend, descended into scenes of ugly recrimination as angry locals harangued them and pelted them with mud.

For a country with an advanced economy and an exemplary physical infrastructure, it’s often easy to forget that Spain is one of western Europe’s youngest democracies.

It is a mere five decades since the country was an authoritarian junta, led by the continent’s last remaining fascist dictator, and at times like this its civic weaknesses are painfully exposed.

For anyone vaguely familiar with the petty officialdom of Spanish society, the current paralysis hampering the rescue and clean-up in Valencia should come as no great surprise.

As the leaders of top-heavy governments, at national and local level, remain fixated with self-absolution, rules-obsessed officials further down the chain of command lack the authority and experience to act, independently, creatively, and effectively.

Into this stasis, has emerged the inevitable influence of the Spanish far-right, with various groups claiming to have despatched volunteers from Madrid and to have mobilised thousands of young people to the area, to take matters into their own hands.

It is these groups that the socialist Prime Minister blamed for orchestrating the violence directed against him and the royal couple at the weekend.

While there is some evidence of far-right mobilisation, this does not mean that the crowds did not overwhelmingly comprise many ordinary citizens venting their fury and frustration at official failure.

And while the King and Queen stayed to face the music, Sanchez high-tailed it from the scene as quickly as was practically possible. He cancelled a later visit to another affected area, blaming security concerns.

The messaging of ultra-nationalist groups like Revuelta, ASOMA (The Social Association of Elders), Vox and Nucleo Nacional, emphasises patriotic heroism, framing aid distribution as helping "affected Spaniards" – a subtle, discriminatory message echoing the French far-right’s "national priority" rhetoric.

Even within the ultra-right, Nucleo Nacional stands out for its extremism. Its members, dressed in black, explicitly advocate protecting "Our Race", a term avoided even in hard-line circles.

King Felipe VI after a crowd of angry survivors of Spain's floods tossed mud and shouted insults at him and government officials at one of the hardest-hit towns after floods in Paiporta near ValenciaKing Felipe VI after a crowd of angry survivors of Spain's floods tossed mud and shouted insults at him and government officials at one of the hardest-hit towns after floods in Paiporta near Valencia (Image: PA)

Its founding statement declares: "As we understand the biological reality differentiating women from men, we also recognise the biological reality of each people's racial characteristics."

In Valencia, Nucleo Nacional and Revuelta are collaborating with aid and recovery, sharing an operations centre and co-ordinating joint collection points.

This is not the first time Spain’s embryonic democratic institutions have been found wanting. In 2017 the then conservative Partido Popular government sent troops, equipped with riot gear, into Catalonia in response to peaceful demonstrations by independence campaigners.

In 2019, Barcelona experienced five nights of rioting after violence erupted following a peaceful demonstration attended by more than 500,000 people in protest at the heavy jail sentences handed down to Catalan politicians and activists.

The woeful official response to the catastrophic events in Valencia demonstrates, in painful terms, what can happen when a patriarchal, semi-detached government fails its people.

The longer-term lessons to be learned should be about more than the effectiveness of flood defences and official communications.

This is a time for Spanish central government to reassess its relationship with regional governments and, more importantly, its commitment and the sense of accountability it has for its citizens. It should use this tragedy as an opportunity to mature as a democracy and to leave old and discredited attitudes where they belong – in the past.

Carlos Alba is a journalist, author, and PR consultant at Carlos Alba Media. His latest novel, There’s a Problem with Dad, explores the issue of undiagnosed autism among older people