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.

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