The Valencian government erases the recording from the cameras at the Palau de la Generalitat on the day of the DANA.

ValenciaThe activities of the head of the Council, Carlos Mazón, on the day of the DANA (Dana) can no longer be reconstructed. The afternoon cannot be reconstructed, during which the lack of warning to the population aggravated the consequences of the cold snap, and during which Mazón was missing until he arrived at the Cecopio (Cecopio) at dusk, after having lunch with journalist Maribel Vilaplana at the Ventorro until 5:30 p.m. This was admitted by the Valencian government on Tuesday, which erased the images recorded by the cameras at the Palau de la Generalitat (Generalitat Palace). It should also be noted that the Valencian president himself did not specify the time he arrived at the Palau and changed his version of events regarding the time he arrived at the Cecopio (Cecopio); the latest version is 8:28 p.m. He also has not specified what he did between the time he arrived at the Palau after lunch—supposedly between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.—and the time he left for the emergency committee.

The deletion was justified by the government spokesperson, Susana Camarero, who cited the obligation to comply with Article 8 of Organic Law 4/1997, which regulates the use of video cameras by security forces in public places. This article establishes that recordings will be deleted within a maximum period of one month from their capture, unless they are related to serious or very serious criminal or administrative offenses in matters of public security, with an ongoing investigation, or with an open judicial or administrative procedure. However, the government has ignored the fact that there is an open judicial process regarding the actions of the Generalitat during those hours, with two members of Mazón's executive charged: the former Secretary of Emergencies Emilio Argüeso and former councilor Salomé Pradas.

Camarero took advantage of his usual appearance before the media after the Consell plenary session to read a report from the head of Security at the Presidency, which states that in the case of the video cameras at the Palace of the Generalitat, the images are kept for a maximum of 15 days and that, after this time, if they are not requested by the forces and... The deletion—the document specifies—is carried out by superimposing new recordings on top of the existing ones. What the Consell spokesperson did not emphasize is that the disappearance of the images has become known due to the request made by the PSPV and Compromís parties with the aim of understanding the activity of the Valencian president on October 29 and the reasons for the lack of measures adopted by the Consell.

Specifically, the spokesperson for the PSPV (Socialist Party of Catalonia) in the Valencian Parliament, José Muñoz, has accused the President of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, of "destroying evidence with hammer blows" and "disrespecting evidence that could shed light on what happened on October 29." "More than five months later, we still don't know what Mazón did on October 29 between 2:00 p.m. and 8:28 p.m., which is when he says he arrived at the Cecopio," lamented Muñoz. Compromís spokesperson Joan Baldoví made a similar statement, stating that the Generalitat is trying to "hide" what the president did on the afternoon of the DANA (National Assembly of Catalonia). Baldoví recalled that his group has also requested the recordings from the Cecopio cameras from that day, which have not yet been provided.