Who is who of Cecopio, the body that failed to prevent the DANA catastrophe

ValenciaThe judge who is investigating the handling of the DANA on October 29 in the Valencian Community has been directing her investigation for weeks at the "clear absence of warnings to the population." She believes that the alert was sent late and was "erroneous in content," given that it recommended avoiding travel, when "many of the victims died without leaving the ground floor of their home, going down to the garage, or simply finding themselves on the public road." For all this, she denounces the "avoidability of the overwhelming number of deaths" and emphasizes that "material damage could not be avoided; deaths, yes."

Nuria Ruiz Tobarra, who has not yet charged anyone, holds the Generalitat Valenciana responsible for this malpractice because "the alert level that was maintained at all times [number 2] did not entail the assumption of the emergency by the central administration." And the responsibility for sending the alert was 112, that is, also the Generalitat. However, the Cecopio, which includes several administrations, was the coordination post during the crisis and the people who played a more important role could end up being investigated in an investigation that is being carried out for the alleged commission of crimes of homicide and injuries due to negligence.

Although the Valencian president is not part of the Integrated Operational Coordination Centre (Cecopi), his status as the highest official of the Generalitat could lead to his indictment. Many analysts point out that Mazón's change of version of events in recent days (now he says that he arrived at the emergency committee at 8:28 p.m. – the alert was broadcast at 8:11 p.m. – and not "after seven o'clock" as he had previously stated) could respond to a strategy to disassociate himself from the alarm. According to jurists specialised in criminal law such as lawyers Raúl Vidal or José Vicente Gómez Tejedor consulted by the ARA, the presence or absence of Mazón in the Cecopio "is not decisive" in defining his responsibility. "Regardless of the organisational chart, he is the highest responsible and intervenes in decision-making," says Vidal. Gómez Tejedor does not agree, arguing that "justice does not foresee the conviction of a superior for the actions of his subordinates." On the contrary, he "does believe it is probable" that the administration will be convicted, which could have to compensate the families of the victims for the lack of warnings.

She is currently the main suspect, given that she was the director of the Cecopio. "I am aware that I was the representative of the Generalitat that day, I accept that," she admitted this week. Regarding the sending of the ES-Alert message, she has released Carlos Mazón from responsibility, guaranteeing that he was not expected to make decisions. She holds public workers responsible for the content of the alert and its delay. "It is a system that was being tested, that is not protocolised and we sent it without guidelines, without knowing what texts should be included for each emergency situation. That is why the technicians hesitated and debated its content," she said. And she added: "There I could only listen to the technicians, coordinate and carry out some institutional management, such as asking for help from the UME, but all the decisions were made by the technicians," she insisted.

Graduate in law, criminology, advertising and journalism, this former leader of Ciutadans had no experience in the field of emergencies. In the absence of Mazón, he shared the political direction of the catastrophe with Pradas. Like her, he was dismissed for his management of the DANA. Since then, he has not made any public statements.

He is the only senior member of Salomé Pradas' team who was not dismissed by Carlos Mazón. A firefighter specializing in forest fires, he shared the technical direction of the emergency with José Miguel Bausset, head of the Provincial Firefighters Consortium.

According to various witnesses present at the Cecopio, by ElDiario.es and confirmed by the ARA, he was the one who put on the table the possibility of using the Es-Alert system, although it had also been suggested by the president of the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation, Miguel Polo. He would also have been the one who drafted the message together with a civil servant.

The Valencian government has held him responsible for paralysing the help offered by several police and fire brigade forces from other territories in the days following the DANA. "Politicians did not know what was being offered. It is a question that remains in the technical criteria of the operational management," reiterated on several occasions the vice president and spokesperson of the Consell, Susana Camarero. On October 29, Basset and Suárez would have disagreed on the content of the message. Specifically, on whether the text should be more or less alarmist and order citizens to go up to the first floors of buildings.

Present at the Cecopio since its constitution at 5 pm, he has played a key role in the PP's account of what happened during the fateful day. At various times he has offered information that Carlos Mazón has not conveyed.

The State's leaders

Although Judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra has stated that the responsibility for sending the alarm is a regional one, she is also studying whether the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation (CHX) and the Spanish Meteorological Agency (Aemet), both of which are state-owned, provided adequate information. The Valencian government has denounced that the CHX did not alert in time about the overflow of the Poio ravine and that all eyes were on the possibility of the Forata reservoir overflowing. The Consell has also accused the Aemet of not alerting sufficiently about the extraordinary nature of the rainfall.

She attended the Cecopio telematically. She was criticized for the State not assuming the management of the catastrophe on the 29th or the rescue of those affected in the days immediately following, after observing the inaction or lack of means of the Generalitat. The socialist leader defended herself by recalling the autonomous competence of the emergency and pointing out that the Valencian government suspended the meeting on different occasions without the state authorities being able to do anything. She also defended that she offered the help of the State and the Military Emergency Unit from early in the morning.

He heads the body that manages the Forata reservoir, which regulates the Magro River, whose rupture would have caused an even greater catastrophe. The PP accuses him of leading an organisation that did not send warning emails about the Poio ravine for two hours. The CHX recognised this circumstance, but explained that all emergency organisations received information in real time from the Automatic Hydrological Information System (SAIH). In other words, no emails were sent in that interval., However, the situation was accessible at all times via the Internet. He also recalled that the Valencian government withdrew the firefighters in charge of measuring the Poio ravine at 3 pm and that during the afternoon the emergency helicopters of the Generalitat Valenciana remained at the base without working.

His agency was accused of failing to make predictions, since according to Carlos Mazón, "four times more" water fell than the agency had predicted. It predicted 180 liters per square meter in two or three hours, when in the areas where it rained the most, in the municipality of Turís, 771 accumulated. Núñez accused Mazón of "lying" and recalled that his agency declared a red alert. This Friday The Country has published some of the whatsapps which he sent to his colleagues at Aemet on the afternoon of October 29, while he was participating telematically in the Cecopio: "The Júcar is gaining a lot of water. There are people trapped. I think they don't even know what the situation is right now," he criticized in reference to the Generalitat in one of the whatsapps at 19:28 h.