The judge of the DANA, Nuria Ruiz Tobarra, says 'no' to Carlos Mazón. The magistrate has rejected the request of the former Valencian president to appear in the case in which she is investigating the management of the heavy rainfall, according to has advanced El Levante and has been confirmed by the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community (TSJCV). The former head of the Consell, to whom the judge replies that appearing is incompatible with his condition as a witness - she herself summoned him to testify, although she has not yet set the date-, could now appeal the decision before the Provincial Court, according to the aforementioned newspaper.

The former Valencian president Carlos Mazón has asked the judge of Catarroja investigating the management of the storm, Nuria Ruiz Tobarra, to appear in the case. He has done so in a document sent to the court after the judge summoned him last week to testify –a summons that does not yet have a date– and the Valencian Superior Court of Justice (TSJPV) rejected the request to investigate him. Why is Mazón making this move now? What would he gain if his request is accepted?

The judge from Catarroja investigating the criminal case on the management of the DANA in Valencia has summoned the former president of the Valencian Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, as a witness. The summons does not yet have a date, according to EFE agency.

The moment has arrived. The judge in Catarroja presiding over the criminal case concerning the devastating floods in the Valencian Community has summoned former regional president Carlos Mazón as a witness. The summons, which has not yet been dated, includes a request for him to voluntarily provide any messages and calls from October 29, 2024, related to the handling of the tragedy.

The Public Prosecutor's Office does not believe the time has come to formally charge Carlos Mazón. The public prosecutor has opposed the request made a couple of weeks ago by the investigating judge in the case, Nuria Ruiz Tobarra, to the High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community (TSJPV) because it does not yet see "sufficiently solid data or evidence" against the former president of the Generalitat. However, it does not rule out the possibility of such evidence emerging later and maintains that the judge should continue her investigation. Ruiz Tobarra cannot take the step of formally charging him herself because Mazón is a regional deputy and, therefore, enjoys parliamentary immunity. For this reason, she asked the TSJPV, in a reasoned statement, to assume the investigation of the former head of the Valencian government. for manslaughter, negligent injury, and failure to provide assistance given the conclusion that their handling of the disaster was one of "negligent inaction".

The three judges of the Civil and Criminal Chamber of the High Court of Justice (TSJ) of the Valencian Community who will decide whether to investigate former regional president Carlos Mazón—who retains parliamentary immunity as a member of the Valencian Parliament—have been identified. They are Manuel Baeza, president of the chamber and of the Valencian TSJ; Judge María Pía Calderón, who will be the rapporteur; and Judge José Francisco Ceres. On the table is the request from Judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra of Catarroja, who argues that the politician from Alicante should be charged with manslaughter, negligent injury, and failure to render aid. Before deliberating, however, they must receive the arguments from the Public Prosecutor's Office, the defense, and the plaintiffs, who have until Monday to submit their submissions. Sources close to the case have told El Ara that the three judges are "very conservative" and have emphasized that Baeza and Ceres belong to the right-wing Professional Association of Magistrates. Others, on the contrary, have pointed out that, beyond their ideology, they are "very technically prepared" judges to assume such a crucial role. We now take a brief look at their careers. The most senior is Manuel Baeza, who assumed the position of president of the Valencian High Court in 2025. However, he had already been serving as interim president for some time following the retirement of his predecessor, Pilar de la Oliva. Beside him is José Francisco Ceres Montes, best known for leading a significant portion of the investigation into the Valencian branch of the Gürtel corruption case and, in 2009, for his controversial decision to dismiss the case against Francisco Camps for bribery in the well-known "suits case." This decision was overturned by the Supreme Court, which issued a strong rebuke to Ceres's actions. Conversely, two years later, he reopened the investigation and brought dozens of former Valencian PP officials implicated in the corruption scheme to trial. Ceres and Calderón also served as rapporteurs for several dismissals of complaints against former Socialist president Ximo Puig and Health Minister Ana Barceló regarding the measures adopted during the coronavirus pandemic.

Judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra, who presided over the DANA storm case, has taken the step of requesting the High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community to indict Carlos Mazón for manslaughter, negligent injury, and failure to provide assistance due to his handling of the DANA storm, which she described as "negligent inaction." This decision elevates the case to the regional court, which will have to decide on the future of the former president, who retains his protected status as a member of the Valencian Parliament. If the High Court accepts the judge's arguments, Mazón will join former Minister of Justice and the Interior Salomé Pradas and her former deputy, Emilio Agüero, who are the only other defendants in the case so far.

With the new year, the People's Party finally managed to steer the Valencian Community's handling of the DANA storm crisis more or less where they wanted it: Mazón was forced to resign and replaced by a new president of the Consell (although the chosen candidate wasn't even Feijóo's preferred choice; the urgent priority was removing the disgraced Mazón from the front lines). Juan Francisco Pérez Llorca—Juanfran, to his friends—now heads an executive branch that can calmly focus on what matters: taking charge of the Valencian Community's reconstruction plan after the DANA storm, a Plan Endavant (as it's called) that allocates 29 billion euros to be distributed among the regions. It's important not to forget this, because, as the poet said, this is the true heart of the matter.

With a sour and belligerent tone and going on the offensive, Alberto Núñez Feijóo appeared before the Congressional committee on the woman from the Valencian Country to explain the information he had on the day of the tragedy. For three and a half hours, he used ETA's letter and avoided clarifying why the PP keeps Carlos Mazón as Member of Parliament in the Valencian Parliament —which allows him to retain his parliamentary immunity—, he blamed the Spanish government's partners for endorsing the Moncloa Palace's handling of the situation, took refuge behind the railway chaos, and resorted to an expression he repeated three times: "So brave with a resigned president and so cowardly with a sitting president."

"Now is not the time for controversy." These words, spoken this Thursday by the PP spokesperson in the Andalusian Parliament, Toni Marín, exemplify the communication strategy employed by Juanma Moreno Bonilla's government regarding the Adamuz tragedy. All levels of government, including the Spanish government, "have risen to the occasion," Marín emphasized during his turn to speak, expressing his gratitude for the suspension of the plenary session initially scheduled for yesterday. Hours later, the Andalusian president himself chose not to engage with Isabel Díaz Ayuso's criticism of Pedro Sánchez's administration: "We recovered two bodies three hours ago. I'm not one for controversy; there will be time for an investigation later." The Andalusian PP's strategy serves to clearly differentiate itself from the national PP and, above all, from the Madrid president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who has stated that a "code of silence" has been imposed following the accident to cover up the Zapatero issue and has even suggested that the Andalusian and Spanish governments agreed to arrange the victims' funerals in Madrid.

The president of the Valencian Generalitat, Juanfran Pérez Llorca, stated that parliamentary seats "are neither granted nor withdrawn by any politician," but rather belong to "popular sovereignty," and defended Carlos Mazón's actions, asserting that he had already "assumed his political responsibility" by resigning as head of the Consell. He made these remarks to the media on Thursday after attending a tribute in Valencia to the professor and politician Manuel Broseta, commemorating the 34th anniversary of his assassination by ETA. Llorca reiterated that with his resignation, Mazón had already "assumed his political responsibility." "He acknowledged his mistakes and assumed the full responsibility he had," he summarized when asked if the PP would take advantage of the parliamentary recess in Les Corts. The parliament will not reconvene until February 9th to formally request the resignation of its predecessor. The Valencian president reiterated that "membership in parliament is neither given nor taken away by a politician; it is granted and withdrawn by popular sovereignty, that is, by the voters when they vote," and emphasized that "the Valencian people already carried out this exercise in the last regional elections." In his statements, the head of the Valencian government avoided clarifying whether Mazón will continue as a member of parliament until the end of the legislature if he so wishes, or whether, on the contrary, the People's Party (PP) will demand his resignation, as the victims' associations of the disaster are demanding as a prerequisite for a meeting with Llorca.

The appearances of politicians before Judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra in Catarroja, who is investigating the handling of the DANA storm, are either clarifying or confirming suspicions about the behavior of Mazón and his government, as well as Feijóo, on the day of the storm. There are few surprises. It has been confirmed that Feijóo lied when he publicly stated that he had been informed by Mazón "in real time" of what was happening on October 29, 2024, in the Valencian Community. In a political tradition less indebted to cronyism than Spain's, a lie of this magnitude about an event of such gravity would mean the end of Feijóo's aspirations as a candidate for Prime Minister, and likely the end of his entire political career.

The leader of the People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, stated on October 31, 2024, two days after the devastating storm, that the then-president of the Valencian Community, Carlos Mazón, informed him in "real time" about the emergency situation and all the measures he had taken since the day before the catastrophe. However, today he retracted his statement, claiming that his remarks to the media contained "an error." He clarified that it wasn't until the evening of the 29th, when he spoke with the former head of the Valencian government, that he received no information about the disaster and did not request any. In his self-amendment, which ARA learned of from sources present at the statement, the leader of the Spanish conservatives asserted that he was unaware that a Civil Defense Coordination Center (CECOPIO) had been convened and where the former Valencian president was throughout the afternoon of that tragic day, including during lunch. He also stated that he did not speak with Mazón by phone on the day of the disaster—specifying that he was unable to answer two calls from the former head of the Valencian government who wanted to ask for the phone number of the president of Telefónica—and that they only exchanged messages. According to sources present at the questioning, Feijóo explained that he learned of the DANA storm starting at 7:59 p.m. on Tuesday after reading several news wires, and that it was then that he became concerned about what was happening and contacted Mazón, as well as Emiliano García, the regional president of Castilla-La Mancha, representing the territories affected by the heavy downpours. As expected, although he wasn't asked about the actions of the Spanish government, Feijóo took advantage of several questions from the lawyers and the judge herself – the public prosecutor didn't raise any questions – to criticize the Spanish government, reproaching it for not informing the leader of the opposition of any incidents, nor the 39, 39.

Finally, the president of the People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has handed over to the judge investigating the DANA storm his messages from Mazón during the critical hours of the catastrophe. It's worth remembering that Feijóo had only previously submitted the messages of the former Valencian president, but not his own, and that he did so just hours before Christmas Eve. In this new batch of messages, it's clear that the PP leader was, from the very beginning of the crisis, uneasy and worried about the political consequences. This is the only way to explain why, at 8:26 p.m., after a perfunctory message of support half an hour earlier, he wrote from Mazón: "Keep your spirits up. Lead like you led with the fire." And later he repeatedly sent instructions and advice on how to manage the crisis to achieve communication success: "Take the lead in communication. It's key. The mayors, provincial councils, coordinate with the people, and you keep them informed," he told him.

The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has already handed over to the judge in Catarroja the messages he sent on the day of the DANA storm to the then-president of Valencia, Carlos Mazón. After in a first installmentOn Christmas Eve, the Galician leader only provided the investigating judge with the messages he received from Mazón; this Friday he ended up submitting a notarized statement with the rest of the WhatsApps that the magistrate had asked him"Take the lead in communication. It's key. Mayors, provincial councils, coordinated with the people, and you providing information," he tells him at 11:27 p.m., three and a half hours after the conversation began. This order, or suggestion, had already been made half an hour after the first message of the day: "Lead the information campaign like you did during the [Valencia] fire," he had told him a quarter of an hour after the alert was sent to the public. The PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) seized upon these messages to criticize him for being "more concerned with the narrative" than "with managing the emergency and protecting the public."

The leader of the People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, is expected to hand over to the judge in the coming days the messages he wrote to Carlos Mazón during the critical hours of the DANA storm on October 29, 2024. It should be recalled that last Wednesday, taking advantage of the fact that there were only a few hours left before Christmas Eve, Feijóo deleted the messages, thus censoring a conversation that, according to the judge, has clear procedural relevance, as it could have influenced the handling of the storm. The fact that Feijóo has kept his messages hidden from the public until now suggests that, from the outset, his main concern was not the human lives in danger, but rather the political cost the crisis could entail.

The messages exchanged with former Valencian president Carlos Mazón on the day of the DANA storm continue to haunt Alberto Núñez Feijóo. The PP leader only handed over a portion of them on Christmas Eve – those written by Mazón – but The judge's request is not enough for her, and she demands that he also send her his own documents.To unravel the controversial handling of the torrential rains of that fateful October 29, 2024, the focus has been on... Mazón's liesBut did Feijóo also lie?

The judge in Catarroja is not satisfied with the messages that the PP leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, received from the former president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, during the night of October 29th of last year. Feijóo she had simply complied literally with the magistrate's requestBut he had decided not to also provide the messages he sent to Mazón. However, as of Monday, he has a new request from the judge for him to provide the complete conversation, not just the texts from the former head of the Consell. Thus, the investigating judge, Nuria Ruiz Tobarra, requested that the Galician leader be informed "again" of "the possibility of voluntarily providing to this case, within three days, the WhatsApp messages that form an integral part of the conversation" between him and Mazón on October 29, 2020. Feijóo is scheduled to testify remotely as a witness on January 9, from his office in Congress.

Former Valencian president Carlos Mazón has consistently given contradictory accounts of his actions on the afternoon of the devastating floods. Faced with a tragedy that claimed 230 lives, he concealed, with various excuses, that he had lunch with Maribel Vilaplana. He also lied about his arrival at the Palau de la Generalitat and the Cecopio emergency response center. The journalist, for her part, has not been entirely truthful from the outset. A month after the floods, she stated that she had said goodbye to Mazón at 5:45 p.m., but almost a year later, she broke her silence with a statement, delaying the end of their lunch at the El Ventorro restaurant by an additional hour. Shortly thereafter, it was revealed that Mazón had accompanied Vilaplana to the parking lot around 6:45 p.m., despite her having implied in her open letter that the former president had remained at the restaurant.

1. With a day without a newspaper and more family after-dinner conversations than hours of television, a news It has been largely hidden amidst the brambles of the Christmas holidays. Its significance has made it all the more inconspicuous. The judge in Catarroja requested the WhatsApp messages exchanged between Núñez Feijóo and Mazón on the day of the storm. And the president of the People's Party, who hadn't deleted the messages, has had to hand them over. Now that they've been made public, these conversations further expose Carlos Mazón's weakness. If it weren't for the trump card of parliamentary immunity—a strange invention that allows politicians and monarchs to commit crimes while the justice system turns a blind eye—the former Valencian president would be in the dock and would face a court ruling that would prevent him from compensating the 229 families who have suffered. Beyond the seriousness of the irresponsibility, the terrible crisis management, and the sheer indifference of that day—whether he was at El Ventorro or in the parking lot—we now have proof that he has accumulated fourteen months of sustained falsehoods. But Mazón is not the only one who has repeatedly lied to the public. Alberto Núñez Feijóo has also been exposed by this collection of text messages.