The former Secretary of the Presidency denies informing Mazón about a possible lockdown

ValenciaFormer Valencian Secretary of the Presidency Cayetano García denied on Thursday before the judge investigating the handling of the DANA storm in the Valencian Community that he informed the then-President of the Valencian Government, Carlos Mazón, on the day of the disaster about the consultation made by the team of the then-Minister of Justice and the Interior, Salomé Pradas, to the emergency services. According to sources familiar with his testimony who spoke to ARA, the former official asserted that he did not know whether Mazón supported the measure or not, and that the former minister also did not tell him that she had tried to speak with the former president before calling him.

García, who appeared as a witness, also denied having received any instructions from the former chief of staff of the former president, José Manuel Cuenca, and insisted that, since he is not a lawyer, he advised Pradas to consult the Generalitat's legal department about the possibility of using the Forata reservoir – the response was positive, but the measure was ultimately not adopted, nor was the reservoir breached, although it did overflow.

Asked about the aid decree for those affected by the floods in Utiel, which he prepared the same afternoon as the storm and about which he informed Mazón at 7:20 p.m. – according to the messages he himself provided to the court – he replied that he drafted it without receiving any instructions from his colleagues in Utiel, in which he described the extensive damage the downpours were causing in the town – where six people died. In fact, in a WhatsApp conversation between García and the former head of the Consell at 7:25 p.m., García had already hinted to the PP politician that there would be "a wink from those affected."

The notarized document that García provided to the investigating judge also included several conversations with Pradas: at 4:11 p.m. (2 minutes), at 7:36 p.m. (2 minutes), at 7:43 p.m. (33 seconds), and at 8:24 p.m. (1 minute). In the second conversation, according to the regional secretary's account, she informed him of the possibility of the Forata dam collapsing and indicated that a lockdown of the entire province was being considered. In the third, she reiterated the possibility of a lockdown. In both conversations, García allegedly urged the regional minister to refer the matter to the Generalitat's legal counsel.

As he explained, he was reluctant to implement the measure, considering that it would limit fundamental rights and that it included areas not affected by the risk of the reservoir collapsing. After speaking with Pradas, the former regional secretary recounted that he contacted the Official Gazette of the Generalitat to ask them to be prepared in case a lockdown had to be published.

Pradas denies García's version of events.

After hearing the testimony of the former high-ranking official, sources close to Salomé Pradas denied García's version of events and maintained that she neither consulted with him nor sought his advice, but merely informed him of the possibility of confining the population. They added that it was García, not Pradas, who called the Generalitat's legal department.

The accounts of two former Generalitat officials generally coincide with a report from this body regarding its actions on the day of the DANA storm. According to the Generalitat's legal department document, no high-ranking official from the Ministries of Justice and the Interior, the Environment, or the Presidency consulted the body in writing, although brief phone calls were received. Specifically, one call came from Ricardo García, then Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice and the Interior, who inquired whether a potential lockdown would have legal support. García also phoned the Generalitat's legal counsel to warn him of the possibility that Pradas might contact him and his team.