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.

The versions of events presented by former Valencian president Carlos Mazón and journalist Maribel Vilaplana regarding the afternoon of October 29, 2024, have been constantly changing. They have often had to alter their story when statements from other key figures involved in the management of the DANA storm—which caused 229 deaths in Valencia—have contradicted them. WhatsApps The documents that former Valencian regional minister Salomé Pradas handed over last Friday are the latest example of all this and further expose Mazón, who at 4:30 p.m. already knew there was a death in Utiel and yet decided to continue having lunch with Vilaplana. Furthermore, in court, the journalist denied that during lunch Mazón called the president of the Valencia Provincial Council, Vicent Mompó, after she received a message with images of the damage in Utiel. Mompó contradicted her, admitting in a recent interview that the call did take place (six minutes after Vilaplana received the message, in fact), and the investigating judge considered it "highly improbable" that the journalist did not hear the conversation. The question now is: Could Mazón and Vilaplana face any legal consequences for changing their stories? First, we must differentiate between their individual situations. The former president of the Valencian Generalitat retains his seat in the Valencian Parliament (Les Corts) and, therefore, his parliamentary immunity. For this reason, the judge in Catarroja investigating the handling of the DANA storm cannot formally charge him. Only when he leaves his seat will the magistrate have free rein to include him in the case as a suspect. This Saturday, relatives of the victims of the storm demanded that Mazón leave the Valencian Parliament after the revelations... WhatsApps de Pradas.

There are many days when you play the secret game. At one time or another, you'd leave your body and detach yourself to find another. You look at a couple in a celebrity magazine, at the hairdresser's. They stroll through the city with a cup of coffee in hand, ahead of their time, yes, but not going anywhere. They seem happy, with that kind of happiness that emanates from... outfitsUrban types (hat, sneakers, baggy clothes) who have maids. They seem to be laughing at them. On the street? Without a cell phone? And, well, for just a few hours, you'd want to put on in the shoes of her.

An austere yet elegant space. Spacious, but seemingly insufficient to prevent other diners from overhearing the conversations of the remaining guests. The owner of the El Ventorro restaurant in Valencia provided the investigating judge on Wednesday with a floor plan and two photographs of the private room where the acting head of the Valencian government, Carlos Mazón, and journalist Maribel Vilaplana dined on the day of the storm. He also submitted the receipt for the meal, which totaled 165 euros. According to the documentation provided by the restaurateur and accessed by ARA, the space where the president of the Valencian government and the journalist spent almost four hours measures 4.86 meters long and 2.83 meters wide at one point and 4.43 meters wide at another. It also has two windows, an entrance door, and what appear to be two bathrooms, according to the documents. As for the meal they enjoyed, the receipt indicates it consisted of "two set menus." The receipt does not include the time it was issued.

At 7:47 p.m. This is the time that journalist Maribel Vilaplana paid for parking after having lunch at the El Ventorro restaurant in Valencia with the then-acting head of the Valencian government, Carlos Mazón, on the day of the storm. That is, an hour after finishing lunch, around 6:30 p.m. The investigating magistrate was able to confirm this on Tuesday after receiving the bank card information with which the journalist paid for parking, showing that the amount was €15.10. Vilaplana's submission of documentation was necessary because Interparking, the company that manages the business, informed the court that license plate data is deleted after one year and that the entry and exit images to the underground parking garage cannot be accessed because they are deleted one month after being recorded. The only option was to cross-reference the bank card data with the amount paid. The company was able to provide the number of vehicles that left the parking lot between 6:35 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., paying by card. There were a total of 38. Given that Vilaplana arrived before 3:00 p.m. and left after 7:00 p.m., analyzing the exits narrowed the search to three scenarios. The first was that she left at 7:12 p.m. after paying slightly more than €19. The second was that she left at 7:18 p.m. after paying €17.55. And finally, the third was that she left at 7:47 p.m. at a cost of €15.10, thanks to the five-hour parking offer. This is almost an hour after she left the controversial lunch at El Ventorro, according to Vilaplana and the restaurant owner, and it calls into question what both the media personality and the PP leader have said so far. Another point that remains unclear is where the then-president of Valencia changed his clothes. The journalist testified before the judge that in the private room, Mazón asked her permission to remove his tie and jacket and put on a yellow sweater. This account contradicts the restaurant owner's statement, who asserted that the head of the Valencian government left the meal wearing a jacket.

Ventorro has unwittingly become the most striking evidence of Carlos Mazón's negligent handling of the situation on the day of the DANA storm. In this centrally located restaurant in Valencia, the then-president of the Valencian government had lunch for over four hours with journalist Maribel Vilaplana, even though he was aware, as he admitted, of the critical situation in Utiel. He did not cancel the meal, although, as revealed by ARA, The broadcaster had already rejected his offer to direct À Punt two weeks earlierThe owner of the establishment, Alfredo Romero, who was summoned to the Catarroja courthouse this Friday, explained that the two diners left the restaurant "between 6:30 and 7:00 p.m. approximately," when there were no other customers left. He also confirmed that the Valencian president was in no hurry to leave, as Vilaplana had already stated in his testimony a few weeks ago. When questioned by one of the private prosecutors, he asserted that he did not see Mazón "worried." In fact, he indicated that lunch ended at 4:45 p.m., a quarter of an hour before the start of the Cecopio (a regional emergency plan), and that the conversation after lunch lasted for another couple of hours. Romero, who was aware of the approaching storms, sent two of his employees home around 6:00 p.m., as they lived in the towns affected by the DANA (isolated high-level depression). "Before it started to rain, I told them to leave," he admitted, without clarifying whether he spoke with the president about the weather. He also revealed that Mazón was the first to arrive at the restaurant, between 2:15 and 2:30 p.m., alone and without an escort, and that Vilaplana arrived later, around 2:50 or 3:00 p.m., which may help to understand What time did the journalist leave the parking lot? based on the hours he spent at the restaurant.

The 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.

The management of À Punt. That was the reason given by both Carlos Mazón and Maribel Vilaplana's entourage to justify their controversial lunch at El Ventorro. A meal that wasn't confirmed until ten days later. The journalist asked the Valencian president to keep quiet about who she had lunch with, and he did so until the media made it public. She didn't want to be implicated in a tragedy she knew nothing about. Therefore, a compelling reason had to be given for a lunch that lasted almost four hours. But Mazón had already extended that offer two weeks earlier. Specifically, on October 11, eighteen days before the DANA storm, as ARA has been able to confirm and as it had already pointed out. Eldiario.es

One week and one day after resigning, the acting president of the Valencian Community, Carlos Mazón, will appear this Tuesday before the parliamentary commission investigating the DANA storm. He is appearing at his own request, having asked to do so last Wednesday, with the aim of explaining the actions taken by the Generalitat (Valencian government) "for the social and economic recovery of the affected areas" and "anything else the parliamentary groups deem relevant." The opposition, which does not trust a commission controlled by the PP (People's Party) and Vox (Vox), wants him to clarify all the questions that still surround that day. Let's review them:

When Maribel Vilaplana (Muro de Alcoy, 1975) finished presenting her first news program on RTVE's Valencian Community channel in 1996, her bosses and colleagues applauded her enthusiastically outside the studio. She was only 21, but she already showed her composure by holding a steady gaze on the camera without flinching. Almost three decades after her television debut, Vilaplana returned to the cameras on Monday, but with a very different demeanor. Distraught and with her head bowed, she navigated the throng of journalists waiting for her at the courthouse before her appearance to explain the controversial lunch at El Ventorro with Carlos Mazón on the day of the devastating storm.

On the first anniversary of the DANA storm, the protest against the Valencian government ended outside El Ventorro restaurant. The nearly four-hour lunch between Carlos Mazón and Maribel Vilaplana at this establishment has become the most striking evidence of the negligent handling of the situation by the head of the Valencian government on October 29th of last year. So much so that its owner, Alfredo Romero, decided remove the sign from the entrance to reduce the influx of citizens who stop in front of the establishment every day to photograph it.

Taking their time at lunch, even talking about football, Valencian President Carlos Mazón received numerous calls and messages during the meal, quite understandably, about the severe flooding that had been affecting the Plana de Utiel-Requena region since 1 p.m., and which had already produced significant rainfall that morning. This is a summary of the "relaxed" atmosphere that, according to journalist Maribel Vilaplana, characterized her nearly four-hour working meeting with the head of the Valencian government on the day that 229 people died in the Valencian Community. This account was given to ARA by sources present at the journalist's testimony before the investigating magistrate in the DANA case, which took place this Monday in the Catarroja courthouse.

Given the anomaly of Carlos Mazón remaining president of the Valencian Community a year after the devastating floods, and especially after the public humiliation he suffered at last week's memorial service for the victims, this Monday could bring another disastrous day. The testimony before the judge in Catarroja by journalist Maribel Vilaplana, who shared lunch and a four-hour conversation with the president while dozens of Valencians were being swept away by the floodwaters, is shaping up to be key to his political future. Vilaplana is the person best positioned to explain the president's behavior during the critical hours of the flood, who can report what calls he answered and what his level of concern was, or rather, his lack of concern. Unlike the officials charged by the judge—Regional Minister Salomé Pradas and her deputy, Emilio Argüeso—Vilaplana is obligated to tell the truth, as Mazón owes her no political loyalty. On the contrary, it can be said that the Valencian president has forever tarnished his image and jeopardized his professional career. Vilaplana, therefore, could be the weak link through which Mazón's indictment begins to take shape. While not imminent, the groundwork could be laid this Monday. It's important to note that Judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra has thus far avoided directly investigating Mazón because she wanted to gather much more information before taking action, and that it was the Provincial Court that expedited the process at the request of the prosecution. However, the amount of evidence accumulating against Mazón is already becoming overwhelming. Pradas herself clarified on Friday that she had indeed informed the president promptly that the possibility of sending an alert to mobile phones was being discussed, contrary to what he has stated in several interviews. If Vilaplana states that he remembers hearing something about an alert, or that Mazón himself made a comment about it, it would mean the end of Mazón's escape.

"Please, don't drag me into this mess." This is what Maribel Vilaplana asked Carlos Mazón when she arrived home after the controversial lunch on the day of the DANA storm and realized the severity of the floods, which would ultimately claim 229 lives. The fact is that the conflicting accounts given by both the Valencian president and the journalist have transformed the nearly four-hour lunch at El Ventorro into the most compelling evidence of the negligent management by the head of the Valencian government on October 29th of last year. And this has led Vilaplana—who suffered an anxiety attack on Saturday that required her to be hospitalized for a few hours—to testify this Monday morning before the judge investigating the handling of the DANA storm.

The Valencian president, Carlos Mazón, showed no signs of concern during the lunch he shared with journalist Maribel Vilaplana on October 29, the day the DANA storm devastated the province of Valencia, leaving 223 dead. This was revealed by sources close to the journalist, who explained that during the meal, which took place in a private room at the El Ventorro restaurant, Mazón spoke on the phone several times, but "at no point did he give the impression that anything was wrong." It wasn't until right after lunch that the Valencian president began to take action related to the DANA storm. But what had happened minutes before? According to information obtained by ARA, the journalist received a message from a close contact with a tweet from À Punt in which the mayor of Utiel alerted the public to the critical situation in his municipality with a video and urged residents to stay indoors. The message was received at 5:39 PM and the communicator responded with a surprised expression. They were both still at the restaurant.

Details about what Valencian President Carlos Mazón did on the day of the disaster are emerging only slowly, even a year after the catastrophe, and they often contradict previously reported information. According to the information released this Sunday, The Levant and ARA has confirmed, after lunch with journalist Maribel Vilaplana at the Ventorro restaurant, when the catastrophic storm was already causing havoc, the head of the Consell would have accompanied the journalist to a parking lot located near the establishment where they had lunch and where she had parked her car. A situation that occurred at 6:45 p.m.

As the one-year anniversary of the DANA tragedy approaches, which resulted in 229 deaths, many unanswered questions remain. One of the most glaring is that it is still unknown what Carlos Mazón did in the hour and a half before arriving at the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi) in Eliana at 8:28 p.m., after leaving El Ventorro. In fact, this very week It has been learned that the Valencian government has not provided the judge with all the recordings it has of that meeting. The new chronology provided by journalist Maribel Vilaplana, who revealed that he left the restaurant between 6:30 p.m. and 6:45 p.m., an hour later than he had initially stated, also leaves no room for a recollection of what the Consell leader did since then, as he has not ceased to give contradictory versions since day one. Ten days after the journalist broke her silence, neither Mazón himself nor any member of his government has been willing to comment on the new revelations.

Almost a year after the DANA (National Anti-Terrorist Strike), Maribel Vilaplana breaks her silence. She does so to postpone the end of the meal she had with the president of Valencia, Carlos Mazón, at the El Ventorro restaurant for another hour, when dozens had already died in various regions as a result of the severe flooding. In an open letter, the journalist details the time she left the establishment, when sources close to her initially claimed she had left just minutes before 5:45 p.m.: "The interruptions caused by calls, coupled with waiting and saying goodbye, also delayed my departure from the restaurant, which finally took place around 6:30 p.m."

"Our friend Mazón recommended this place to us. A real success. Tasty dishes and after-dinner conversations over a cigar and a drink. A place to turn off your mobile phone and relax. Good value for money. I would like to show the bill, but I can't find it right now." This is one of the ironic reviews that appear on Google about El Ventorro, the restaurant where the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, had lunch with the journalist Maribel Vilaplana in the middle of the DANA storm, extending the after-dinner conversation until six in the afternoon, with deaths and disappearances in different towns in the Valencian Country.