"They spread false information, but I won't call them murderers": Mazón's statement in 6 sentences

BarcelonaOne year and five days later the disastrous woman in the Valencian Country, Carlos Mazón has announced his resignation. He did so in his usual style: despite some points of self-criticism, he focused his speech on blaming the Spanish government for the lack of aid received. In an appearance conducted entirely in Spanish, Mazón stated an appeal to the PP and Vox to choose his replacementThese were the highlights of his statement.

"I would have resigned a long time ago"

As soon as he urged the parliamentary right to find him a replacement, the Valencian president asserted that if it had been up to him, he would have taken that step long ago. "For myself, but above all for my family," he said. However, he justified his decision to remain in office by saying that he believed he could better explain what happened during the emergency response, and he affirmed that he felt capable of leading the reconstruction efforts. But that determination has taken its toll: "I can't do it anymore."

"They spread erroneous information, but I won't call them murderers"

The Valencian president has once again blamed state agencies for failing to warn of the storm's effects. Mazón said that both the Júcar River Basin Authority (CHX) and AEMET—both agencies under the Spanish government—made mistakes and disseminated "erroneous information" about what would happen. "But I won't call them murderers," Mazón added in his farewell address.

"I have made mistakes that will haunt me for the rest of my life."

In an exercise of self-criticism unprecedented in our view, Carlos Mazón has admitted to making a series of mistakes on the day of the DANA storm, most notably his failure to cancel his political agenda for the entire day. He also acknowledged that by not traveling to the site of the tragedy, he allowed "the idea of a president absent during the emergency to take root in the public consciousness." However, he defended himself by stating that they were completely unaware of the storm's magnitude: "I have apologized before, and I apologize again today. But none of the mistakes made were due to political calculation or bad faith."

"An unimaginable tsunami"

At the start of his appearance, after thanking King Felipe VI for his work and his "loyalty and support" during the DANA storm, Mazón described what happened as an "unimaginable tsunami" and boasted about his administration: "No government has ever faced a challenge of this magnitude." After stating that the reconstruction was completed "in just months" when it should have taken three years, he again criticized the Spanish government, specifically the still-pending works in the Poio ravine.

"There has been a brutal campaign to call me a murderer."

The interim president of the Valencian Generalitat, who took office today, has asserted that he has been the victim of a manipulation campaign. "They spared no expense, neither in lies nor in their budgets," he said. In a clear reference to Sánchez's government, he added: "They even went so far as to claim that I interfered by delaying the alert to cover up the serious errors made by government agencies." Mazón blamed "the left" for having exploited "death and tragedy for political gain."

"I hope that society can differentiate between a man who has made a mistake and a bad person."

Just before concluding his statement, Mazón launched one last barb at Pedro Sánchez: "The Spanish government has used the victims as a battering ram, and even when we asked for help and resources, they didn't give them to us, not even in the days following the tragedy." Finally, he added: "I hope that, when the noise dies down a bit, society will be able to distinguish between a man who made a mistake [him] and a bad person [Sánchez]."