The driver confirms Mazón's lies about his arrival at Cecopio

ValenciaA new witness has further called into question the actions of former Valencian president Carlos Mazón on the day of the DANA storm. The former head of the Valencian government's driver has confirmed the falsity of the multiple versions that the PP leader and his team offered regarding their handling of the disaster and, especially, his arrival at the Palau de la Generalitat (the seat of the Valencian government) and the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (CECOPI). According to sources present at his testimony, the driver told the investigating judge on Friday that the first ES-Alert – at 8:11 p.m. – sounded while Mazón was heading to the Emergency Coordination Center, located in the metropolitan town of L'Eliana, and before he had even left the city. The driver's account coincides with the version provided by the bodyguards on February 9th, They placed the arrival of the Popular Party leader at the Palau at 7:50 p.m. "He was alone. He went up to the office and said, 'Now come down and we'll leave,'" they detailed.

Witnesses from the driver and the security team corroborate Mazón's lies. He initially denied being at a lunch and claimed to have been in his office working since early afternoon. Later, he admitted to having lunch with journalist Maribel Vilaplana at the El Ventorro restaurant, but maintained that he returned to the Palau around 6:00 p.m. and joined the Cecopio (Emergency Coordination Center) shortly after 7:00 p.m. Subsequently, he pushed back his arrival time to his office to 7:00 p.m. It wasn't until November 2025, more than a year after the disaster, that it was discovered that after a nearly four-hour lunch, the former president had accompanied the journalist to a nearby parking lot. They reportedly said their goodbyes shortly after 7:30 p.m., and the former head of the Consell arrived at the Palau at 7:50 p.m. and at the Cecopio at 8:28 p.m.

The driver's statement comes the day after the head of the Risk Analysis and Emergency Monitoring Unit of the Valencian Regional Government, Juan Ramón Cuevas, explained to Judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra that by 6:30 p.m. on the day of the storm, his department was already aware of the "problems in X where most of the deaths occurred." This information is relevant because the former Minister of Justice and the Interior, Salomé Pradas, has always denied that the critical situation of the dry riverbed was known in time to warn the population and maintains that all the attention at the Cecopio (Emergency Coordination Center) was focused on the Forata reservoir. Pradas, in fact, still maintains that the 8:11 p.m. ES-Alert was sent solely with the dam in mind. The former minister has also repeated that the alert was not discussed until 7:00 p.m., a claim contradicted by witnesses from the delegate's office. Spanish government official Pilar Bernabé, Deputy Director General of Emergencies Jorge Suárez, and José Miguel Basset, the former chief inspector of the Valencia Provincial Fire Consortium – now retired. Basset, however, agrees with Pradas that initially the discussion focused solely on the reservoir situation. Like the former councilor, he denies having heard anything about the Poio ravine during the first hours of the Cecopio meeting. Cuevas also explained that Pradas gave him the text of the message on a piece of paper "a little before 7:50 p.m." with instructions not to send it until she told him to. According to him, the content did not refer to any specific danger or establish any specific measures, but simply recommended avoiding travel. The Emergency Services official also stated that he was not responsible for transcribing the second ES-Alert, sent at 8:57 p.m., and that he was unaware of the specific details.

Reliefs in the Generalitat

The latest developments in the investigation come as the Valencian Regional Government's Department of Emergencies experiences turmoil with the possible replacement of the Director General of Innovation, Raúl Quílez, who requested to leave his post just days after testifying as a witness in the case. This change could be followed by that of the Regional Secretary for Emergencies and the Interior, Irene Rodríguez, the department's second-in-command and Quílez's wife. Before the judge, the Director General admitted that he had access to the videos of the Ceopio meeting, in which Pradas was seen giving instructions and assuming command on the fateful afternoon. The recordings also allegedly demonstrate that the former minister knew from midday on the day of the tragedy to be monitoring the Poio ravine. Quílez justified the Generalitat's failure to provide the videos to the case until six months after they were released by the media, arguing that they were not "official recordings" and that he only learned of their existence following a parliamentary question from Socialist MP Alicia Andújar on February 26, 2025. ~BK_S_