Feijóo backtracks and admits that Mazón did not inform him about the DANA storm.

ValenciaThe leader of the People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, stated on October 31, 2024, two days after the devastating storm, that the then-president of the Valencian Community, Carlos Mazón, informed him in "real time" about the emergency situation and all the measures he had taken since the day before the catastrophe. However, today he retracted his statement, claiming that his remarks to the media contained "an error." He clarified that it wasn't until the evening of the 29th, when he spoke with the former head of the Valencian government, that he received no information about the disaster and did not request any. In his self-amendment, which ARA learned of from sources present at the statement, the leader of the Spanish conservatives asserted that he was unaware that a Civil Defense Coordination Center (CECOPIO) had been convened and where the former Valencian president was throughout the afternoon of that tragic day, including during lunch. He also stated that he did not speak with Mazón by phone on the day of the disaster—specifying that he was unable to answer two calls from the former head of the Valencian government who wanted to ask for the phone number of the president of Telefónica—and that they only exchanged messages. According to sources present at the questioning, Feijóo explained that he learned of the DANA storm starting at 7:59 p.m. on Tuesday after reading several news wires, and that it was then that he became concerned about what was happening and contacted Mazón, as well as Emiliano García, the regional president of Castilla-La Mancha, representing the territories affected by the heavy downpours. As expected, although he wasn't asked about the actions of the Spanish government, Feijóo took advantage of several questions from the lawyers and the judge herself – the public prosecutor didn't raise any questions – to criticize the Spanish government, reproaching it for not informing the leader of the opposition of any incidents, nor the 39, 39.

At another point in a statement that lasted five hours, the Galician politician said that Mazón told him he was going to dismiss the former Minister of Justice and the Interior, Salomé Pradas, and the former Minister of Industry and Tourism, Núria Montes, but that the Valencian leader gave them no explanation. During his testimony, which took place via videoconference from the Galician politician's office in the Congress of Deputies, Feijóo maintained that the former president didn't subsequently detail the reasons for the inaction of former Minister Salomé Pradas or the late submission of the ES-Alert. Nor did he say whether Mazón had emphasized this delay. In this regard, he maintained that he has no more information than what the former Valencian president provided to the media.

Besides revealing that the PP leader didn't tell the truth during his statement to the media on October 31—in which he tried to make it seem as though he was closely monitoring the storm's progress—Feijóo's summons has had a collateral effect: revealing that the Galician leader also wasn't fair when he denounced the alleged inaction. "I wouldn't ask the central government for more cooperation, I would ask for some cooperation. Because, as for information, there's none: I only know that the crisis committee met at eleven o'clock last Tuesday night," he said in that appearance. However, in his messages on the night of the disaster, Mazón explained to the conservative leader that he had already spoken with the Spanish government: "I've spoken with Sánchez, Montero, and the Ministers of Defense and the Interior so they have potential personnel on standby for tomorrow." "What time did they call you? Which minister are you contacting?" the PP leader replied. Then, the former president was clear: "Through the [Spanish government] Delegation, we currently have what we need, which right now is the UME (Military Emergency Unit)."

The other new element revealed in the messages between the two high-ranking conservative officials is that Feijóo was particularly concerned about how Mazón could emerge unscathed from the crisis. "Lead the information campaign like you did during the fire [in the Campanar neighborhood of Valencia]," he told him half an hour after the first message. "Take the lead in communication. It's key. The mayors, provincial councils, coordinated and with the people, and you providing information," he added at 11:27 p.m. Regarding the reason for this great effort, the PP leader justified himself today by stating that in these cases, information is "fundamental." Another of Feijóo's notable responses came when he acknowledged that at 11:25 p.m. on the 29th, the then head of the Consell explained to him that the first deaths from the storm were already known: "This will be a fucking disaster,president"There will be dozens, for sure," Mazón wrote.

After hearing Feijóo's testimony, the PSOE demanded the resignation of the PP leader, given that the Galician leader admitted he didn't know Mazón's whereabouts "during the most critical hours" of the storm. They also criticized him for admitting he wasn't informed "in real time," as he claimed two days after the catastrophe. The Socialists emphasized that Feijóo himself said that if he was lying, his own colleagues should expel him from the party. The PSOE criticized the Galician politician for being only concerned with the "narrative" on the day of the storm while "lives were being lost." "No management, no coordination, no humanity, just political calculation," they reproached.