Mazón recognizes the judge who arrived at Cecopio after the alert was launched

ValenciaIn the game of confusion in the management of the DANA, there is a new element since Tuesday: the Valencian president was not at the Integrated Operational Coordination Centre (Cecopi) when the alert was launched to the population at 8:11 p.m. The Valencian government has responded to the judge who is conducting the judicial investigation that Carlos Mazón did not enter the building where the emergency committee met between 4:00 p.m. and 8:11 p.m., something that until now the head of the Consell had never clarified, dodging the issue whenever he had been asked. In statements to the media, he had explained that he had gone to the Cecopio "after 7:00 p.m." and the Generalitat specified that he had arrived "after 7:30 p.m.", but the exact time remains a mystery. The new version is added to the string of partial and contradictory explanations from the Popular Party and the Generalitat Valenciana and is produced following a request from the judge of Catarroja who is investigating the case.

Before the Generalitat's response was known, the president of the Valencia Provincial Council, Vicent Mompó, had already said that Mazón was not in the Cecopio at the time of the alert in statements to the commission of inquiry of the provincial corporation. The details given by the Popular Party politician had previously been revealed by the spokesperson for the PSPV, Carlos Fernández Bielsa, and that of Compromís, Dolors Gimeno, in the Efe agency. Later, Mompó did not contradict the two leaders: "I am not going to contradict the spokespersons, who have said what I have said in the commission." And he added: "The message was not delayed so that no one was expected. If Mazón was on the phone, then he was obviously not there. I have my idea about what time he arrived. There is a judicial investigation underway and if they call me to testify, I will do so. Out of prudence I cannot do so now."

According to the Efe agency, the Valencian government bases its response to the judge on the recordings of the security cameras of the building where the Cecopio meetings are held. Once "the images taken by different cameras of the system have been viewed, on October 29, 2024, from 4:00 p.m. to 8:11 p.m., and according to the certification issued by the official responsible for security, the entry of only two authorities" into the building is confirmed, arriving in the time slot asked by the judge in charge of the case.

In light of the doubts surrounding the new version of the Popular Party, this Tuesday the media questioned the delegate of the Spanish government in the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabé, who limited herself to saying that she "did not" see Mazón in the Cecopio "until they sent the EsAlert". Despite the words of Mompó and Bernabé and the new version of the Valencian government, and according to what the ARA has been able to find out, witnesses present at the emergency committee maintain that they saw the Valencian president after 8 pm, after a ten-minute pause held around 7:50 pm and always before 7:50 pm and always before the afternoon. This version fits with the list of calls released by Mazón himself this Monday, the last of which would have occurred at 7:44 pm.

Awaiting a possible indictment of Mazón

The release of the calls and the new version of the head of the Council is in response to the request for information from Judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra, who had demanded to know if at the time of sending the alert there were other authorities in the Cecopio besides those pre-established by law, in a transparent reference to Mazón. The magistrate intends to clarify whether the head of the Council was accompanied by the then Minister of Justice and Interior [Salomé Pradas], the delegate of the Spanish government, Pilar Bernabé, –connected telematically–, the chief inspector of the Valencian firefighters, José Miguel Basset, or the representatives of Aemet, the police and the Confedera.

The information provided by the Consell coincides with the moment when the judge must decide whether to charge Mazón – in this case, the investigation into him should be passed on to the High Court of Justice – given that the magistrate of Catarroja has held the Generalitat Valenciana responsible for the lack of warnings. In the recent resolution to which the ARA had access, the magistrate points out that "the alert level that was maintained at all times [number 2] did not imply the assumption of the emergency by the central administration" and that the sending of alerts is a task of the Valencian government. "The Statute of Autonomy establishes civil protection as the exclusive competence of the Generalitat (art. 49. 3. 14a), without prejudice to the provisions of art. 149 of the Constitution," explains Ruiz Tobarra.

In her resolutions, the magistrate has ratified her desire to find out the reasons for what she herself has described as a "clear lack of warnings to the population." In addition, she has highlighted the "avoidability of the overwhelming number of deaths" that rose to 227 people. According to Ruiz Tobarra, "the material damage could not be avoided; the deaths, yes."