Salomé Pradas ignites the congressional commission on the DANA storm: "The Confederation and AEMET failed spectacularly"

ValenciaSalomé Pradas was unable to follow through on the plan devised by her lawyers to avoid answering questions before the congressional committee investigating the DANA storm, claiming she was under investigation in an ongoing legal process. Or, conversely, she executed it perfectly, leading everyone to believe she wouldn't answer any of the deputies, only to then respond promptly to criticisms of the actions of Spanish government agencies during the disaster. Initially, the former head of Emergency Services for the Valencian government remained silent when questioned by representatives from Compromís (Águeda Micó), Podemos (Javier Sánchez), and the PNV (Idoya Sagastizabal), but she broke down during a highly technical and then more emotionally charged cross-examination by the representative from Esquerra Republicana, Gabriel Rufián. Pradas's first response came when Otero reminded her of the Cecopio's operations with a diagram of its structure. The Basque politician emphasized that she was the sole commander of the emergency response, while the former councilor pointed to the number 2 with her fingers to argue that there was a "co-management" of the agency, even though the regulations do not stipulate this. "I would simply like to say that many of the things you are asking about are already covered in the considerations [a 12-page document that the former PP leader submitted with proposals for improving the administration's response to a catastrophe]," the former head of Emergencies responded after asking Otero for the sketch and telling her it was an incomplete document. Pradas's real change of heart, however, came after the intervention of Gabriel Rufián, a member of parliament for the Republican Left of Catalonia, who asked her to apologize to the victims. At that moment, the former councilor began to cry, albeit timidly. From then on, she intensified her selective approach and didn't answer most of the questions, but she did make many pointed comments and accused Rufián of being "paternalistic" and "sexist" for putting words in her mouth that she hadn't said. "I apologize if you find it sexist," the pro-independence leader responded before adding that "when she's about to go to prison, she'll remember that day and think she should have acted differently."

Vox's questioning

The former head of Emergency Services' attitude shifted again during the lenient questioning by Vox deputy Ignacio Gil Lázaro, a moment Pradas seized to blame the Spanish Meteorological Agency (Aemet) and the Júcar River Basin Authority (CHX) for failing to transmit the information. "Aemet failed spectacularly in its predictions," and the Conference "failed due to negligence and absence," she summarized.

"It seems that Ms. Pradas is being investigated on and off, because sometimes she answers, sometimes she doesn't. I'm thinking of standing next to Mr. Gil Lázaro, to see if that gets her to answer me," quipped Socialist deputy Marta Trenzano, who has received answers herself. "Salomé Pradas wasn't involved," the former councilor simply stated, before adding that none of her actions slowed down the sending of the ES-Alert.

During the turn of Sumar-Compromís deputy Alberto Ibáñez, Salomé Pradas continued her deliberate silence and only responded by denying that she had traveled to the municipality of Carlet—a town on the banks of the Magro River—to "take a picture" with the forest firefighters instead of facing the heavy downpours, and perhaps to hasten the start of the Cecopio (a local emergency response plan). Her messages revealed this. Specifically, one from 1:43 p.m. in which she informs former president Carlos Mazón that she is traveling to this municipality with her second-in-command, Emilio Argüeso, so that they can be seen "with the forest firefighters," with whom she planned to sign an agreement the following day. "She went to take the picture," Ibáñez repeated. "It was what I had to do, be on the front lines. They focused the spotlight on the Ribera Alta region, and I went there," Pradas replied.