What time did Maribel Vilaplana leave the parking lot?

Barcelona / ValenciaThe great mystery that remains unsolved a year after the devastating storm is what Carlos Mazón did from the time he accompanied Maribel Vilaplana to a parking lot near El Ventorro around 6:30 a.m. until he arrived at the Cecopio emergency center at 8:30 a.m. During that time, the journalist could provide relevant information if she could pinpoint the exact time she said goodbye to the then-acting president of the Valencian Community. However, Vilaplana did not bring the parking ticket when she testified in court. She did provide a copy of her bank statement, but it did not show the time she paid. Given this, the judge in Catarroja requested the credit card number used to pay for the service in order to confirm the exact time with the company. In the coming days, we may finally know something that neither Vilaplana herself nor the head of the Valencian government has been willing to clarify.

Interparking, the company that manages the business, has informed the court that license plate data is deleted after one year and that entry and exit images to the basement cannot be accessed because they are deleted after one month of being recorded. The only possibility is to cross-reference bank card data with the amount paid. However, the company was able to provide the number of vehicles that left the parking garage between 6:35 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., paying by card. There were a total of 38 vehicles. Considering that Vilaplana arrived before 3:00 p.m. and left after 7:00 p.m., the analysis of exits allows the search to be narrowed down to three scenarios.

The first is that he left at 7:12 p.m. after paying slightly more than 19 euros. The second is that she left at 7:18 p.m. after paying €17.55, which would be more consistent with the informant's statement. And finally, the third is that she left at 7:47 p.m., paying €15.10, almost an hour after leaving the controversial lunch at El Ventorro, thanks to the offer to park the car for five hours.

According to her account to the judge, she was walking calmly with the President of the Generalitat between El Ventorro and the parking lot. Afterward, they chatted briefly before the entrance, discussing, among other things, football, and then she went to get the car. She had the ticket in the car, went down to get it, went back upstairs, paid, and went back down to get the car. When she got in the car, she properly closed her laptop after the communication session she had with the President during lunch and replied to some personal WhatsApp messages. Vilaplana never stated that it took almost an hour between leaving El Ventorro and leaving the parking lot in his car.

In this third scenario, just three minutes before Vilaplana left the premises, Mazón returned Minister Pradas's call. It was at 7:43 p.m. This came after Pradas had called him twice, at 7:10 p.m. and 7:36 p.m., to inform him of the public alert. Mazón assured the congressional committee this week that He didn't answer the phone because he had it in his backpack and didn't hear it.Although it was the most critical moment of the flood with the collapse of the Picanya bridge before 7 p.m. Mazón also said in the lower house that when he left El Ventorro he went to the Palau de la Generalitat, where he arrived around 8 p.m., without going home first, which would fit with this third scenario because it is a journey that takes only ten minutes.

The judge requests the images of Mazón's arrival at Cecopio

With the aim of determining whether the acting head of the Valencian government influenced decision-making during his journey from the Palau de la Generalitat to the Cecopio (Emergency Coordination Center) and whether he gave any instructions by telephone, the investigating judge in the DANA (isolated high-altitude depression) case requested the recordings from the Valencian government on Thursday that show Mazón's exact arrival at the Eemer2 Center. The judge argues that this step is "relevant" to analyze Salomé Pradas's "decision-making process" on the day of the tragedy. In this regard, she emphasizes that the president of the Valencian government has "directive and coordinating" functions for all members of the Valencian government, as indicated by the Provincial Court of Valencia on October 16th, functions that "cannot be limited to those exercised in person, but must also extend to those exercised by telephone."