Spanish Mayor chains himself to bridge for flood aid

La Roda de Andalucía (Spain)  :  The Mayor of a town in the Spanish region of Andalusia on Tuesday chained himself to a bridge as part of a protest to demand financial aid to help repair extensive damage left in the wake of flash floods.

Fidel Romero, Mayor of the La Roda, located 120 km east of Seville, chained himself to a bridge over the Yeguas River alongside a number of colleagues and fellow citizens, Efe news reported. 

The group demonstration coincided with a regional government meeting in which local ministers were set to approve an extraordinary budget worth 5 million euros ($5.69 million) that would be allocated to the areas affected by adverse weather that struck the region over the weekend. 

However, Romero said the funding, to be shared between a number of villages and towns, was insufficient. 

According to Romero, in La Roda alone the deluges caused 7 million euros worth of damages.

The national meteorological agency Aemet warned Spain was braced for more bad weather with southern regions in particular on alert for severe storms and torrential rain.