Neither in the Llamada nor in the 'mascletà': Mazón hides for the Fallas

BarcelonaNeither in the Call nor in the first mascleta. Carlos Mazón is not being seen at the Fallas, the most beloved and universal festival of the Valencians, declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2016. He was not at the traditional event that opens the festival last Sunday or this Saturday at the first mascleta, two of the highlights of the Fallas calendar. In the agenda of the Valencian president for this Saturday, Mazón had not planned any event, which already made it clear that he would not be on the balcony of Valencia City Hall to see the first mascleta of the Fallas. The event brought together thousands of people in the square, some of whom shouted slogans against the popular leader, such as "Mazón resign" and "Murderer", and displayed banners and posters with slogans such as "20.11, neither forget nor forgive", referring to the time when the alarm was sent for the flood.

Just on the day that marks four months since the DANA and on the threshold of the fifth demonstration to demand his resignation, the Valencian president has again been absent from the second meeting of the Fallas, which was attended by the delegate of the Spanish government, Pilar Bernabé, or the leader of the Valencian socialists, the Minister of Science Diana. No member of his government attended either. From the ranks of the PP, only the MEP Esteban González Pons and the deputy in Congress Borja Sémper, without responsibility for the tragedy, were in the council. The one who has defended Mazón this Saturday, but from León, far from Valencia, has been the spokesman for the PP in Congress, Miguel Tellado, who has defined him as "the president of the reconstruction who is focused on moving Valencia forward."

Cornered by his controversial management of the DANA, which resulted in 227 deaths, Mazón limits the events as much as possible to avoid protests. And this week he was again heckled at an event at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, as has already happened in other towns he has visited since the fateful afternoon of 29-O. Last year, however, it was at these two events in what were his first Fallas as president of the Generalitat Valenciana.

Last Sunday, the Valencian president was absent from the Crida, the event that opens the Fallas of Valencia in front of thousands of people. Although he had no public event on his agenda and the Central Fallera Board's schedule planned for him to receive, together with the mayor of Valencia, the two main falleras, as is traditional, Mazón did not show up, unlike last year, when he was present throughout the day.

The mayor of Valencia, the popular María José Catalá, excused Mazón by arguing that on Monday she had an informative breakfast in Madrid. The fact is that the head of the Consell limited himself to posting a video on his Instagram account on Sunday in which he pointed out that the Fallas of 2025 were "about recovery". "They symbolize that we are leaving behind the bad and that we want to be reborn with the good," said Mazón, who knows if thinking about her own future.