Carlos Mazón, president of Valencia, has apologised for his government’s inadequate response to the flash floods that devastated the region after it emerged he had a three-hour lunch with a journalist on the day of the disaster.

Spain's under-fire regional leader Carlos Mazón defies calls for his resignation after last month's deadly floods.

The head of the Spanish region devastated by the country's deadliest floods in decades admitted to "mistakes" and apologised on Friday but rebuffed calls for his resignation."I'm not going to deny mistakes" or "shirk any responsibility",

Carlos Mazon, leader of Spain's Valencia region, faces criticism over his response to catastrophic floods that killed 200 people. Despite calls to resign, Mazon defends his actions, acknowledging failures and promising a public inquiry.

The floods wrecked infrastructure, gutted buildings and submerged fields. The final bill is expected to soar to tens of billions of euros

STORY: Dozens of Valencians gathered outside the regional assembly on Friday, demanding the resignation of regional leader Carlos Mazon over the handling of the deadly floods crisis.Mazon defied the calls for him to step down.

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.

Authorities in eastern Spain are under increased pressure over their handling of the region's recent devastating floods.