The mysteries that still surround Mazón on the day of the DANA storm

BarcelonaOne week and one day after resigning, the acting president of the Valencian Community, Carlos Mazón, will appear this Tuesday before the parliamentary commission investigating the DANA storm. He is appearing at his own request, having asked to do so last Wednesday, with the aim of explaining the actions taken by the Generalitat (Valencian government) "for the social and economic recovery of the affected areas" and "anything else the parliamentary groups deem relevant." The opposition, which does not trust a commission controlled by the PP (People's Party) and Vox (Vox), wants him to clarify all the questions that still surround that day. Let's review them:

The great mystery is that we still don't know what Carlos Mazón did an hour and a half From the time he left El Ventorro at 6:45 p.m., he accompanied Maribel Vilaplana in the parking lot until he arrived at the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (CECOPI) in Eliana at 8:28 p.m. During that time, when most of the 229 victims died, the head of the council went 37 minutes without making or answering any calls, specifically from 6:57 p.m. to 7:34 p.m. He revealed this himself when he made it public. the list of calls he made the afternoon of the DANA stormHowever, the committee did not mention missed calls or calls he did not answer. The committee rejected the opposition's request that Mazón hand over the record "issued by the telephone company," as well as the bill from El Ventorro, key documents for verifying the schedules, movements, and communications of the head of the executive branch on that fateful day.

The list provided by Mazón includes six calls with the Minister of Justice and the Interior, Salomé Pradas, between 5:00 p.m. and 8:11 p.m. It does not include the two calls he did not answer at 7:10 p.m. and 7:36 p.m., when she wanted to inform him about the alert being sent because the Poio ravine had already overflowed, unleashing the massive wave that buried towns like Paiporta and Catarroja. In any case, the former minister, the only person charged, explained that she kept Mazón informed "at all times" of "everything that was happening at the Cecopio" (the emergency coordination center) and revealed that in one of these six calls, the one that took place at 7:43 p.m. and lasted 48 seconds, she announced that the Es-Alert message would be sentThis revelation contradicts Mazón's version of events, who has always maintained that no one informed or consulted him about sending the alert. If he was informed, he would ultimately be responsible for the late issuance of the alert as head of the Council.

Maribel Vilaplana, the journalist who had lunch with Mazón at El Ventorro, He was legally exonerated During her testimony in court, she asserted that she believes the head of the Council was unaware of the tragedy. She also stated that she hadn't overheard Mazón's conversations, but that he suddenly blurted out a cryptic piece of information without being prompted. She testified that she only heard the head of the Consell respond, "It's the same old thing, it's about the photo." Vilaplana explained that she interpreted this as Mazón wanting "to go somewhere to take a picture." According to witnesses at the trial, despite follow-up questions from the prosecution, the questioning concluded without Vilaplana clarifying whether Mazón was referring to taking the photo at the Cecopio.

During his testimony, Vilaplana explained that on the night of the storm, he spoke with Mazón and that the president assured him he was unaware of what was happening when they were both in El Ventorro. It was at midnight, when the first bodies were beginning to appear, that Vilaplana asked him not to let his name appear anywhere. Days later, they spoke again, and the president told him that his name would eventually come out after giving different versions about the meal. Immediately afterward, Vilaplana said he deleted all messages with the Valencian president, something he hadn't mentioned before, as a result of a panic attack. These messages, which Mazón may not have deleted or which might be recovered from Vilaplana's phone, could be key to the investigation.

Vilaplana also denied showing Mazón the video showing Utiel flooded, but only six minutes later, the Valencian president called the president of the Valencia Provincial Council, Vicent Mompó, to ask for the phone number of the mayor of this town.as the ARA explained a year agoHowever, Mazón didn't end up calling the mayor. He did, however, call the mayor of Cullera, Jordi Mayor, at 6:28 p.m., who to this day still doesn't know why he called him. "I don't know why he called me, he didn't tell me anything. I didn't perceive it as an emergency call. I don't know what state he was in, but it wasn't an emergency," he has said in various interviews, recalling that at that time the Júcar River had not yet overflowed its banks as it passed through the municipality.