Mazón's advisor declares through tears that she had no knowledge of emergencies

Valencia"There were technicians with over 100 years of experience in emergencies, and I only had three months," and "at no point did they warn me that the Poio ravine could overflow its banks." As expected, former Minister of Justice and the Interior of the Valencian government, Salomé Pradas, has placed all responsibility for managing the DANA (National Watershed) on the technicians and middle management of the Valencian Government. This was explained to ARA by several sources present this Friday at the former minister's statement before the judge investigating the catastrophe. Pradas's strategy was supported by her deputy, Emilio Argüeso, who specifically singled out the Deputy Director General of Emergencies, Jorge Suárez, and José Miguel Basset, former head of the Provincial Firefighters Consortium and head of the emergency.

Pradas has been especially kind to the head of the Council, Carlos Mazón, whom she did not hesitate to release from any responsibility. In this regard, she stated that the "alleged delay in the Es Alert message had nothing to do with the president." "I was the one at the Cecopio. We didn't wait for the president to make any decisions. It didn't depend on the president, but on the technicians," she added, according to the same sources. The former PP senator also explained that on various occasions she spoke with the regional secretary of the Presidency, Cayetano García, the regional secretary of the Presidential Cabinet, José María Cuenca, and the president himself. "I was informing him about what was happening at the Cecopio," she explained.

The former councilor, who only answered her lawyer's questions, denied that she was the "sole commander" of the emergency, as the investigating judge maintains and the law dictates. Despite what the law says, Pradas has asserted that, at emergency level 2, "there is a single, coordinated and collegial direction" between her and the Spanish government delegate, Pilar Bernabé.

The former senator, who burst into tears at several points during her statement, even went so far as to say that she had no "technical knowledge" in emergencies and that her position is solely "institutional." "I had advisors, but none in emergencies," she added. Furthermore, she has relieved herself of any responsibility and argued that she "had not held an institutional position" until her appointment as a minister in July 2023, and that she had only been at the Department of Justice and Home Affairs for three months—initially heading the Department of Environment, Water, Infrastructure, and Territory. "I have a law degree and I am a law professor," she emphasized to justify her lack of knowledge, according to witnesses present at the statement. In addition, he provided a list of more than 100 calls made on the day of the disaster, including those to the President of the Generalitat (Catalan government), Carlos Mazón, although he did not specify how many or at what time.

Regarding the alert system, and as he did a few days after the floods, he reiterated that "it was for testing purposes at the time." Regarding the draft alert, he explained that it was written by Jorge Suárez and that a debate then began between him and José Miguel Basset regarding the suitability, content, and geographical scope of the message. Pradas singled out Basset in particular, saying that he was responsible for recommending the "most appropriate measures for the protection of the population."

Argüeso: "I learned about the firefighters' withdrawal two weeks later."

Like Pradas, his second-in-command, Emilio Argüeso, also shifted responsibility for the inaction on the 29th to Jorge Suárez—an official not appointed by the PP—Basset, and the president of the Júcar River Basset Confederation, Miguel Polo, all three of whom were present at the Cecopio. Despite being the director of the Valencian Agency for Safety and Emergency Response at the time of the catastrophe, the former regional secretary of Emergencies has disclaimed any responsibility. In fact, according to sources present at his statement, he even said that he found out "two weeks later" that the Firefighters Consortium withdrew the personnel monitoring the level of the Poio ravine at 3:00 p.m. "Mr. Basset did it and didn't report it," he added.

Argüeso, who only answered his lawyer's questions, also stated that the service of the company that manages the 112 emergency telephone number did not inform them of the thousands calls they received, some reporting the first missing people as early as 5 p.m. In this regard, he argued that the person who should have channeled this information was the Deputy Director General of Emergencies, Jorge Suárez, but that he failed to do so. "He said that phone calls to 112 shouldn't be taken into account because a single traffic accident can get 50 people to call," he emphasized. Along these lines, he added that neither Suárez, nor Basset, nor Polo informed them of the flooding of the Poio ravine, nor did they propose raising the emergency to Level 3, a circumstance that would have required the State to assume its management.

Through the back door

Before appearing before the judge as a defendant for alleged reckless homicide and injuries, Salomé Pradas had to pass through the gates of the City of Justice in Valencia—where the investigation into the damage to the Catarroja courthouse is being conducted. A crowd of journalists and a hundred victims' relatives were waiting for her, who booed her. She also suffered the indignation and expressions of grief from those affected, Emilio Argüeso, who, like his former boss, was greeted with shouts of "murderer," "incompetent," and "useless." This was an ordeal they were able to avoid upon leaving the courthouse, as they did not leave him through the main door. This also meant they were able to avoid answering questions from the media.

Due to the high media coverage and the numerous parties involved in the case, the judge has decided that the video recording of Salomé Pradas and Emilio Argüeso's statements will only be available in physical form at the courthouse. The parties will be free to use the transcript in order to "avoid the dissemination to third parties of the images and audio of the defendants during their statements."