The president of the Valencia Provincial Council admits that the management of the DANA was "a disaster"

ValenciaCritical of the management of the catastrophe, but with the necessary lapses to avoid compromising former Valencian president Carlos Mazón and ending up splattered himself due to his inaction. The president of the Provincial Council of Valencia, Vicent Mompó, acknowledged this Monday before the DANA committee of the Congress of Deputies that the actions during the heavy downpours that the Valencian Country suffered almost two years ago were "a disaster" and that he cannot applaud the behavior of "any public official." However, he defended that his amnesia regarding certain moments is not the result of a strategy to exonerate Mazón.

Mompó has appeared for the second time after progressive groups detected contradictions during his first statement. Especially when he changed his version regarding his testimony on the program Salvados on La Sexta –in which he said he spoke with Mazón by phone about how to alert the population– and stated that he did not have information about the situation of the Poio ravine, the overflowing of which caused the majority of the deaths. He himself said in Congress in November 2025 that he did not remember that on the day of the catastrophe the mayor of Torrent, Amparo Folgado, warned him at 6:38 p.m. about the critical situation of the gully and its tributaries. He also stated that he was unaware that the provincial deputy for Firefighters, Avelino Mascarell, had mentioned to him that at 5 p.m. the mayor of Chiva, Amparo Fort, had informed him about the overflowing of the ravine, already at that time.

This Monday, the president of the Provincial Council repeated that he "does not remember" the call from Folgado or the conversation with Mascarell, although he admitted that they might have taken place. In this regard, he justified his amnesia due to the nervous situation experienced at Cecopi. In the same vein, he ratified his change of version regarding the actions of Carlos Mazón. When asked if he spoke about the ES-Alert with the former head of the Council, just as he explained on Salvados,he limited himself to saying that he does not know. "I don't remember," he insisted.

Despite his lapses, the president of the Valencia Provincial Council did admit that there were deficiencies in the management of the emergency: "Obviously, and I cannot deny that to you. The management was a disaster," he acknowledged. “I cannot applaud the management of any public official,” he added. “The victims are the only ones who have been right from the beginning,” he concluded.

After Mompó's appearance, this afternoon it will be the turn of the former Minister of Emergencies and Interior, Salomé Pradas, who could once again exercise her right not to respond, arguing that she is under investigation in the case analyzing the management of the DANA.