The hour and a half that we still don't know what Mazón did on the day of the DANA

As the one-year anniversary of the DANA tragedy approaches, which resulted in 229 deaths, many unanswered questions remain. One of the most glaring is that it is still unknown what Carlos Mazón did in the hour and a half before arriving at the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi) in Eliana at 8:28 p.m., after leaving El Ventorro. In fact, this very week It has been learned that the Valencian government has not provided the judge with all the recordings it has of that meeting. The new chronology provided by journalist Maribel Vilaplana, who revealed that he left the restaurant between 6:30 p.m. and 6:45 p.m., an hour later than he had initially stated, also leaves no room for a recollection of what the Consell leader did since then, as he has not ceased to give contradictory versions since day one. Ten days after the journalist broke her silence, neither Mazón himself nor any member of his government has been willing to comment on the new revelations.

But in her letter, Vilaplana mentions her departure from the restaurant and implies that the head of the Consell stayed behind when she left. In response to media reports, such as the very meal that Mazón tried to hide, the Presidency initially reported that Mazón was at the Palau at 5:00 p.m. Just three days later, Mazón's team delayed his arrival at the Palau to 6:00 p.m., a version they have defended to the PP leadership. The following day, the Valencian president stated that he "personally" joined the Cecopio meeting "starting at 7:00 p.m." When the Generalitat (Catalan Government) provided, four months later, video footage from the Emergency Center's security camera, showing Mazón arriving at 8:28 p.m., the head of the Consell said: "Obviously, 8:28 PM is after 7 PM. I don't understand where the version change is.", he said in a cocky tone in response to reporters' questions.

The fact is that before he arrived, it's unknown where Mazón was. The Valencian government deleted the recorded images by the cameras of the Palau de la Generalitat arguing that the recordings are deleted within a maximum period of one month from their capture, unless they are related to serious or very serious criminal or administrative violations in matters of public safety, with an ongoing investigation or with an open judicial or administrative procedure. However, the executive ignored that there is an open judicial process into the actions of the Generalitat in those hours with two members of Mazón's executive accused: the former Secretary of Emergencies Emilio Argüeso andformer councilor Salomé Pradas.

As if that were not enough, and also at the request of the opposition and not of his own volition, the Valencian Generalitat reported that Mazón does not have a personal cell phone but a corporate one, which does not provide individual details so as not to have to provide his geolocation on 29-O. The fact that he entered the Cecopio wearing different clothes than he had at lunch and at the events prior to the event in the morning suggests that Mazón went through Palau, where there is a shower and where he can change clothes. The only ones who might know what he did during that hour and a half are Alfredo, the owner of the restaurant, and especially the bodyguards, who are national police officers and who were decorated by the Valencian government.

40 minutes without calls during the most critical hours

Although Mazón has always maintained that he was promptly informed of everything that was happening, something that Vilaplana refutes in his letter, the call log he released to Madrid without providing official documents reflects a drop in his telephone activity during that hour-and-a-half interval, when the situation was at its most critical. At 6:48 p.m., he spoke with Paco González, Director General of Communications, and at 6:57 p.m., twice with Juanfran Pérez, his second-in-command at the PPCV. From then on, there is a period of almost 40 minutes during which Mazón does not report any calls and does not even answer Pradas's phone again until 7:10 p.m., although it is at 6:45 p.m. that the Picanya Bridge collapses in one of the most significant images of that day.

It was not until 7:34 p.m. that Mazón spoke with Javier Sendra, the regional secretary of Infrastructure. After nearly an hour and a quarter without contacting anyone at the Cecopio, Mazón called Pradas at 7:43 p.m. It was his second call with the Minister of Emergencies, following the one at 5:37 p.m., although at that time there were already missing persons in Utiel and the takeover of Forata was in danger. He would call again at 8:10 p.m., one minute before the alert was sent, although Pradas maintained before the judge that the Valencian president had nothing to do with it, and a final time at 8:19 p.m., nine minutes before his arrival at the Cecopio. These two calls were omitted by Mazón when he revealed his phone records, another example of the opacity he has displayed since the fateful day of the DANA. The fact that Mazón is not listed as being investigated due to his status as a member of parliament has allowed him to avoid having to explain exactly what he did that afternoon. An opacity that was once again evident on Monday when it was revealed that the Valencian government has a video of the Cecopio that it has not handed over to the DANA judge.