Pradas points to Mazón: he claims that he informed him of the possibility of sending the ES-Alert during their lunch at El Ventorro
The judge adds Mazón's calls to the investigation and new images from Cecopio show Pradas admitting "concern" about Poio before 2 p.m.
BarcelonaSalomé Pradas points the finger at Carlos Mazón. The former Valencian Interior Minister clarified this Friday that she kept the President of the Valencian Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, fully informed of everything happening at the Cecopio (the regional emergency response center) on the day of the DANA storm, including the possibility of deploying the ES-Alert system. Pradas explained this in an interview on Radio Castellón and also to the EFE news agency, thus contradicting the Valencian president himself, who three days earlier had stated in an interview... The Spanish that no one informed her or consulted her about sending that mass alert to the population. In the same interview, Pradas also expressed her confidence that journalist Maribel Vilaplana, who is scheduled to testify in court on Monday, will "tell the whole truth." Vilaplana is the one with whom Mazón had lunch on the day of the disaster until almost seven in the evening.
What Salomé Pradas is now detailing is what the former councilor herself claims she already recounted in court and which, therefore, contradicts what Mazón said. "No. I am not informed, nor am I a mere formality to be processed. It would seem like a technical obstruction in the process that it was the President of the Generalitat who had to send alerts. Why should he consult me if it's not in the protocol, nor am I in the flood plan? It's absurd. The hierarchy is clear. I am not part of the Cecopio (Emergency Coordination Center)." The Spanish This week. "I never gave any orders in Pradas, neither to convene the Cecopio nor to activate the UME, nor to send the alert," he also said in an interview. The Provinces October 9. Sources close to the prosecution in this legal case assert that Pradas's words could have criminal consequences for Mazón because they demonstrate that, if the Valencian president was informed, he would be ultimately responsible for the delayed issuance of the alert as head of the Consell.
In this context of increasing pressure, the PP has already opted not to defend Mazón this Friday and has not ruled out his resignation: "It's a very personal decision that he must make," the PP spokesperson in Congress, Esther Muñoz, emphasized on La Sexta regarding the resignation. These words increase the pressure on the head of the Council, while the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, stated on TVE that Mazón "has no political future" and that "the fundamental reason for him to leave is that his presence causes pain" to the victims.
The calls are in the judge's hands.
According to the list of calls that the Valencian Government gave to the Valencian Parliament A few weeks ago, Mazón made twenty-six phone calls on October 29th between 5:37 p.m. and 11:29 p.m. All of these calls are now in the hands of the judge in Catarroja, who has issued a ruling to incorporate them into the investigation. The first call was to Pradas, with whom he spoke five more times that afternoon between 5:00 p.m. and 8:10 p.m. However, the two calls that Mazón did not answer during that period, and which the former councilor made public, are not included in the record. The two calls that Pradas made that Mazón did not answer were at 7:10 p.m. and 7:36 p.m. The list that the Valencian president presented in Madrid at a conference in February did not include the call with Pradas at 8:10 p.m., just one minute before the ES-Alert was sent. The head of the Council has distanced himself from that sending to avoid any kind of criminal liability. This call was revealed earlier through documentation provided by Pradas in court on the day he testified. According to The CountryThis last call was when Mazón informed Pradas that he was already on his way to the Cecopio. The Valencian president arrived at 8:28 p.m.
Beyond the phone calls, new videos of Pradas at the Cecopio (the regional emergency coordination center) have surfaced this Friday, revealing that she was already aware of the dangerous situation in the Poio ravine at 1:56 p.m. The videos, obtained by ARA, show two employees of the company that manages the 112 emergency service in the Valencian Community speaking with the then-regional minister. They inform her of the incidents caused by the downpours in various parts of the region, and then Pradas mentions the Poio ravine. "It's what's worrying us most at that moment," she says during the conversation. This did not prevent the ravine from being left unmonitored at 2:30 p.m. faced with a drop in capital that the firefighters took advantage of to go out to eatThese images did not appear in the audiovisual material that Emergency Services had previously sent to the judge – they submitted a shorter, edited version.
The Vilaplana parking ticket
All this comes just days before Maribel Vilaplana's court appearance. at the request of the Provincial Court of ValenciaThis Friday, the judge specifically requested that Vilaplana provide the parking ticket from the garage where Mazón allegedly accompanied him after lunch at El Ventorro. The magistrate also requested any other evidence that corroborates the period during which he was with Vilaplana on the day of the disaster. According to information made public last week, Mazón accompanied Vilaplana to the parking garage around 6:45 p.m., when the torrential rains had already caused widespread damage and loss of life. and the Spanish government had already recommended sending the mass alertAccording to the head of the 112 emergency services this week, several media outlets also reported last week that, after this lunch, Mazón went home instead of going to the Palau de la Generalitat (the seat of the Valencian government) to monitor the emergency situation. However, the President's office denied this, asserting that the Valencian president walked to the Palau after saying goodbye. Furthermore, the investigator in Catarroja has asked the Fire Department to explain what information they had on October 28th regarding the potential flooding caused by the DANA (isolated high-level depression) the following day. She urges them to specify how they obtained this information and whether any additional personnel or equipment were deployed in response. She also requested information from the Ministry of Emergencies on this last point.
