Mazón shakes off responsibility and refuses to give new explanations to Congress about the DANA

Madrid"Who can expect much from this individual when he should have resigned on October 30, 31, or November 1, 2024?". With these low expectations, the relatives of the victims of the DANA faced Carlos Mazón's second appearance in Congress, gathered at the doors of the lower house to demand answers from the former president of the Valencian Generalitat. The result was as expected, with Mazón once again shrugging off responsibility and refusing to provide new explanations, with an impassive demeanor, in the face of questions and attacks from the spokespersons of the parties of the plurinational majority at the commission of inquiry. "I refer to my initial statement" was the phrase most repeated by the former Valencian president to escape the questioning. And what did he say in the initial statement? Right from the start, Mazón argued that he is exonerated by the decision of the High Court of Justice of the Valencian Country (TSJPV) to refuse to investigate him. "It completely rules out my responsibility," he asserted.

The former Valencian president has even stated that there is a "firm ruling by five magistrates" that exonerates him, although he has never been tried and the pronouncement of the TSJPV is an interlocutory order that dismisses the attempt made by the DANA investigating judge at the Catarroja courts, Nuria Ruiz Tobarra, to have the Alicante politician investigated for homicide and reckless injury and failure to provide assistance for an action she described as "negligent inactivity." The judge was unable to take the step herself because Mazón remains immune from prosecution as he maintains his seat in the Valencian Courts. In this sense, victims' associations have demanded that he "leave politics now" so that "the judicial process may continue." The former Valencian president took a year to resign as head of the executive—he did not take the step until November 3, 2025—and, in the words of Rosa Álvarez, spokesperson for the October 29 DANA Fatal Victims Association, it was "a fake resignation."

"He is better off than before, getting paid as a former president, occupying seat 98 without going to anything [...] it is a true shame. If he does not want to cause more harm to the families, let him leave politics once and for all and leave us in peace so that we can begin the mourning that we have not yet been able to start," emphasized Álvarez. The same message was conveyed by Mariló Gradolí, spokesperson for the Association of Victims of the October 29 DANA: "It is undignified that Mazón continues to collect money from the Valencians and continues to lie from a public office [...] He must clarify all his lies and manipulations." Inside the committee, several left-wing deputies echoed these words from the victims, spoken outside Congress. The ERC spokesperson, Gabriel Rufián, read questions from people who lost family members in the tragedy —"do you regret anything? would you change anything of what you did?" or "if it rained today like it did that day, would exactly the same thing happen?"— without Mazón having responded.

Rufián's intervention was one of the most tense moments of the appearance, given the prolonged silences of the person being questioned in response to these highly emotional questions. The republican labeled Mazón a "negligent, useless, reckless homicide, and psychopath" amidst complaints from PP deputies, who closed ranks with the former Valencian president and interrupted the interrogations on numerous occasions. Compromís deputy Alberto Ibáñez was also one of those who most raised his tone against Mazón when he reproached him for the messages he exchanged early on the morning of October 29 via a WhatsApp chat with his ministers. "Nothing more sadistic, cruel, and useless," retorted Ibáñez regarding the message, known in the context of the investigation by the judge of Catarroja, in which Mazón asked to "flood the media with data" because that gives off a "feeling of being on alert that scares the hell out of you".

It is precisely these messages—contributed to the case by the former Valencian vice-president Susana Camarero—and a letter sent by Mazón to the judge, in which he alleged that there is no evidence against him, that have prompted this second appearance. Although the former president has maintained that justice has already exempted him, at the same time he has repeatedly refused to make "any public statement" until the investigation by the judge of Catarroja is finished. The former president of the Generalitat has defended that he already clarified his role sufficiently in the previous appearance before Congress, on November 17, 2025. "The regulations are very clear", stated the former Valencian president, who insisted that "under no circumstances" did he lead the emergency response.