"Salo [Salomé Pradas], no lockdown," "get that idea out of your head," or "locking down an entire province is outrageous." Should these words from Carlos Mazón's former chief of staff, José Manuel Cuenca, be interpreted as an order from Mazón himself, as former Minister of Justice and the Interior Salomé Pradas has argued, or were they, on the contrary, a personal opinion of the former president's right-hand man? These are the two versions offered this Monday by the two former high-ranking officials of the Valencian government during their cross-examination at the Catarroja courthouse, on one of the most significant days of the investigation into the DANA storm, as demonstrated by the large number of victims of the catastrophe, who booed them as they were escorted by the Gu.

The potential collapse of the Forata reservoir – which regulates the Magro River and overflowed during the DANA storm – became the focus of emergency services, who neglected to adequately monitor the situation in the Poio ravine – the cause of most of the deaths during last year's DANA storm in the Valencian Community. This was explained on Wednesday by the Deputy Director General of Emergencies for the Valencian Government, Jorge Suárez, on the second day of his testimony as a witness, according to sources present at the questioning who spoke to ARA. To justify the neglect of the ravine – even though a hydrological alert had been issued for this waterway at noon – Suárez argued that the water level had dropped by early afternoon compared to the morning, while the potential collapse of the reservoir was a concern. The high-ranking official insisted that the Cecopio (Emergency Coordination Center) learned of the incidents in the ravine starting at 5:30 p.m., but reiterated that they did not prioritize them because the focus was on the Forata dam. He also explained that, once the Cecopio was established at 5:00 p.m., he did not receive specific information about cases of people in danger, and that it was at 7:30 p.m. when it was confirmed that the problem was no longer just Forata, "but a generalization of problems in other areas such as Paiporta, Picanya, Chiva…" which they associated with the Poio ravine. Regarding the measures considered to protect the population, he detailed that initially the possibility of evacuation was considered, but that upon realizing it was not feasible due to lack of time, a lockdown was evaluated. It was then that the former Minister of Justice and the Interior hesitated about whether she could adopt this measure and made several legal inquiries. The then-head of the Fire Consortium, José Miguel Basset, now retired, also reportedly delayed the alert, fearing that the message would cause widespread alarm and lead to residents fleeing their towns. Similarly, the former minister and Vicent Mompó, president of the Valencia Provincial Council, requested that the mayors of the affected municipalities be notified beforehand. "Clearly, the right decisions weren't made. The national system wasn't prepared for what happened. The debates dragged on far too long," he summarized.

Salomé Pradas was unable to follow through on the plan devised by her lawyers to avoid answering questions before the congressional committee investigating the DANA storm, claiming she was under investigation in an ongoing legal case. Or, in fact, she executed it flawlessly, leading people to believe she wouldn't answer any of the members of parliament, only to then promptly respond to criticisms of the actions of Spanish government agencies during the disaster. "I cannot remain silent in the face of falsehoods and lies," she justified herself to the protests of the members of parliament, who reproached her for granting an interview to a television program while failing to provide explanations to the people's representatives.

The statements made to the judge by Jorge Suárez, Deputy Director General of Emergencies for the Valencian Community, have revealed a detail that further delayed sending the alert message to citizens' mobile phones: the Catalan translation took them quite a while because Salomé Pradas, beyond tweaking the text so that it wasn't too typical of standard Catalan rather than Valencian, emphasized the importance of using the same language. In the debate over the translation, she asked that emphasis be placed on... Valencia and replace guys by guy and this by thisCatalan media outlets have reported on this situation, while Spanish media have overlooked it. Telecinco News they merely underlinedthe time they invested in materializing the messageand in the Newscast La 1 indicated that "The president of the Provincial Council suggested making spelling changes", without specifying which ones.

The lockdown decreed during the pandemic for health reasons created a huge divide between the left and the right. Generally, for the left, the restriction of movement was justified because it was done in the name of a greater good: saving as many lives as possible. However, for some on the right, that decision represented an unacceptable intrusion by the state into individual liberty, which at that time was reduced to a kind of Orwellian dictatorship. Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the president of Madrid, spearheaded the institutional opposition to the lockdown, refusing, for example, to close bars and restaurants as the other regional presidents, including Núñez Feijóo, were doing. To such an extent that the Spanish capital became a magnet for young Europeans seeking parties and entertainment. In the streets, however, it was Vox that led the protests under the banner of freedom. The far right, which voted in favor of the first state of emergency, quickly distanced itself and decided to challenge the Spanish government's decision before the Constitutional Court, which at the time had a conservative majority. The Constitutional Court declared the lockdown decreed under the state of emergency illegal and stated that a state of exception, a measure intended for armed conflicts, should have been approved to make a decision of that magnitude. This ruling, written by Justice Pedro González Trevijano, who stated that during the pandemic "the restriction of rights was extremely intense," profoundly affected the most conservative sectors, which have since equated lockdown with socialism/communism.

One, Carlos Mazón, distanced himself from the management of the DANA storm. The other, Juan Manuel Cuenca, tried to prevent the then Minister of Justice and the Interior, Salomé Pradas, from restricting citizens' movement in the areas affected by the storm. This is the main conclusion that can be drawn from the messages that the former minister exchanged with the former president and his former chief of staff, which Pradas voluntarily handed over to the investigating judge who had requested them after the interview she gave to the program. Saved.

Salomé Pradas, the councilor under investigation for the DANA storm, has gone on the offensive since Carlos Mazón resigned as president. Previously, Mazón had pointed to her as ultimately responsible for the tragedy, dismissing her and disclaiming any responsibility for the late and erroneous issuance of the alert to the public. Pradas demonstrated this when she contradicted the now former head of the Consell, who, on the eve of the tragedy's anniversary, claimed he had not informed her about the Es Alert system. He claimed he had done it at 7:43 p.m. After calling him twice previously without Mazón answering the phone, the former president maintained that he had his mobile phone in his backpack.

On Sunday night, Saved Fernando González interviewed Salomé Pradas, Minister of Justice and the Interior of the Valencian Government during the DANA storm and, therefore, responsible for emergency response to the catastrophe. GonzoShe conducted a lengthy interview to delve chronologically into everything that happened on October 29th and to understand the management of Cecopio. The interview has great journalistic merit. Faced with Mazón's ambiguous and implausible account, Pradas is the one who has details and ample reason, at this time, to reveal them. Especially after being dismissed by Mazón. However, it is necessary to keep one circumstance in mind. Salomé Pradas is under investigation and awaiting trial, and therefore her testimony must also be understood as part of a defense strategy.

Salomé Pradas, former Valencian Minister of Emergencies, has decided to speak frankly about the afternoon the torrential rains hit and has put the former president of the Valencian Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, in the spotlight. Pradas has accused him of lying and underestimating the severity of the storm. In fact, she has blamed Mazón for using her as a scapegoat when he dismissed her as minister to cover up his mismanagement. "With my dismissal, he was looking for a scapegoat to pay for or cover up whatever he thought needed to be covered up," she stated in an interview on the program. SavedFrom La Sexta. Pradas explained that when the former Valencian president informed her of her dismissal—summoning her to his home—she retorted that he was being "unfair" to her: "He was pointing the finger at me, blaming me, when I had been where I should have been from the beginning," she asserted. Pradas recalled all the calls the former president didn't answer on the afternoon of the storm and defended Mazón's presence at the Cecopio (the regional emergency response center) given the gravity of the situation. "It would have been necessary for Mazón, as the highest-ranking representative, to have been there with us," she asserted. The former councilor was also explicit in describing Mazón's absence during the critical hours of the storm: "The Forata dam was about to burst, which could have affected 80,000 people, and I couldn't get in touch with the president." "I'm still struggling to process what happened that afternoon with the president. I empathize deeply with the victims," Pradas added. However, the former councilor denied that the ES-Alert was delayed so that Carlos Mazón wouldn't answer her calls. "I didn't wait for him at all, nor did I follow any instructions from him. It would have been absurd if he wasn't answering my calls," she pointed out. Pradas reiterated that it was during the 7:43 p.m. call that Mazón answered her phone and informed her of the "seriousness" of the situation and that they were preparing to send the ES-Alert. It was then, she said, that the president became active, and within minutes he informed her that he was already on his way to the Cecopio (Emergency Coordination Center). "When he arrived at the Cecopio, he wanted to take charge of the communication. There wasn't much communication between the president's team and mine in those days," she lamented. According to Pradas, Mazón's first press conference on the night of October 29th "clearly revealed who had been under pressure to manage the situation" and who hadn't, referring to Mazón.

Transcripts of conversations with victims of the devastating storm in the Valencian Community are increasingly shedding light on the scale of the catastrophe that occurred a year ago amidst the disarray of the emergency response, hampered by a very late call to action by the Cecopio (the regional emergency management center), as acknowledged by the investigating judge, Nuria Ruiz Tobarra, and by the lengthy after-dinner conversation of its president, Carlos Mazón. The judge has added to the case file the chilling conversations of two people who died in Utiel and Picanya. Witnesses confirm that 37 users of the service provided by the Valencian Regional Government and the Valencia Provincial Council through a concessionary company died despite calling for help. One of the transcripts that has been made public is that of a user of the Valencia Provincial Council's telecare service who lived in Picanya. "I'm very scared," the dependent woman states. "My house is full of water," she says. The service representative recommended she get on a sofa or bed, but she replied that she was already "on the sofa," just before the telecare service asked her not to move and told her they would notify the local police. "Please, please!" the woman exclaimed. The telecare staff tried to contact the police, but it appears they were unsuccessful as there is no record of the call. Immediately after that call, they contacted a friend of the victim to see if anyone could take care of her, but she was isolated on the second floor. "Doesn't she have any neighbors upstairs who could help her, or are they all just single-story houses?" the telecare service asked. "They're all single-story houses, and the retirement home is on the ground floor; they have nowhere to go," the friend replied. The Provincial Council's service contacted the woman again: "Everything is overloaded. Do you have any neighbors?" they asked, and received the response that the water "is coming in very forcefully." "Go as high up as possible; not on the sofa, to a table," they told her. "I'm on the sofa, but it's coming in," she blurted out. At that critical moment, they asked her to "try to go from the sofa to the table": "I'm still asking for help, understand?" they told the woman. "Okay, please, quickly," she begged. Help that would not arrive for a woman who would end up drowning, although the service continued requesting assistance, as they responded. After this call, there were about ten attempts to contact 112 from the provincial telecare service, all of which were unsuccessful.

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:

Salomé Pradas points the finger at Carlos Mazón. The former Valencian Interior Minister clarified this Friday that she kept the President of the Valencian Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, fully informed of everything happening at the Cecopio (the regional emergency response center) on the day of the DANA storm, including the possibility of deploying the ES-Alert system. Pradas explained this in an interview on Radio Castellón and also to the EFE news agency, thus contradicting the Valencian president himself, who three days earlier had stated in an interview... The Spanish that no one informed her or consulted her about sending that mass alert to the population. In the same interview, Pradas also expressed her confidence that journalist Maribel Vilaplana, who is scheduled to testify in court on Monday, will "tell the whole truth." Vilaplana is the one with whom Mazón had lunch on the day of the disaster until almost seven in the evening.

New evidence against Salomé Pradas for her management of the DANA (National Watershed). At least two videos incorporated into the case being investigated by Catarroja judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra, and to which ARA has had access, demonstrate that the former Valencian Minister of Justice and the Interior knew from noon on the day of the tragedy that the Poio ravine and the Magro River needed to be controlled. She had even expressed concern about possible flooding. However, the emergency coordination body, Cecopio, would not convene until 5:00 PM, and the alert to the public would not be issued until 8:11 PM.

As the actions of each political leader on the day of the DANA in Valencia are being reconstructed, it becomes increasingly clear that Carlos Mazón's attitude was negligent and completely lacking in professionalism and institutionality during that fateful day. We have now learned that the Minister of Justice and the Interior, Salomé Pradas, tried to contact the Valencian president at 12:52 p.m. and at 4:29 p.m. without success. How is it possible that a president does not answer the calls of the minister in charge of emergencies on a day with a red meteorological alert due to the DANA?

What was to be expected from the statement before the judge by former Minister of Justice and the Interior of the Valencian Government, Salomé Pradas, who was in charge of emergency management on the day of the DANA, was that she would defend her management and that of her technicians, but what happened this Friday in the City of Justice in Valencia. Pradas justified herself by saying that she "knew nothing about emergencies" and that, therefore, all responsibility falls on the technicians. In other words, the former minister is using her ineptitude as an excuse to shrug off responsibility and shift it onto her subordinates, an attitude that is not only undignified but especially dangerous, since it fuels the belief that all politicians are just as incompetent as she is. This maneuver is complemented by another, predictable one, which is to exonerate her boss, that is, the current President, Carlos Mazón. The blame is placed on those below, never on those above.

Suddenly, the statement before the judge by former Valencian Minister of the Interior and Justice, Salomé Pradas, has shown that the king has no clothes on his back, and that politicians, in reality, don't know much about anything and are puppets of the technicians. Pradas has no problem admitting that she is incompetent ("I'm just a law graduate with no experience in emergencies") because she believes that this is how she will avoid criminal liability. The reasoning is very simple: she cannot be responsible for the deaths of 228 people during the DANA (Recovery and Emergency Situation) because, in fact, she didn't even know that her job was to save them. This was the work, she says, of the technicians "with 100 years of experience" who were there. But then why was a year earlier, with the same technicians, a DANA (Recovery and Emergency Situation) in the Vega Baja managed completely differently with Ximo Puig as president?

The commission of inquiry into the management of the DANA (National Development Plan) in the Valencian Community, currently being conducted by the Valencia Provincial Council, has revealed revealing details. Not only about responsibilities, but also about why there were so many deficiencies in the control of the flow of the Poio ravine on the day of the tragedy, October 29, 2024. What was then chief inspector of the Provincial Consortium of Firefighters of Valencia, José Miguel Basset, indicated this Tuesday that the former Minister of Justice and Interior zero", and not the Valencian president, Carlos Mazón. However, he also explained the reason for the neglect in the control of the flow with the withdrawal of the firefighters at 2:30 p.m.: they detected a decrease and they wanted to "eat", since it was lunchtime.

The judicial investigation into the management of the DANA (National Flood Control Center) continues its course: the judge summoned former Interior Minister Salomé Pradas, who was later dismissed following the flood disaster that left at least 225 dead in the Valencian Community, as a suspect on April 11. However, Pradas has challenged this decision and has asked the presiding judge of Catarroja Court No. 3 to close the investigation against her. The former minister presents herself as a "scapegoat" for the tragedy and attributes the victims and damages to the DANA (National Flood Control Center) to the failure to execute the works to channel the water that overflowed the Poio ravine. Pradas's defense also argues that this was all due to a natural disaster that, "due to its nature and speed," could not have been foreseen or avoided. "No one has threatened the lives of the deceased," states her appeal, which requests that the case be removed from criminal proceedings and, if necessary, transferred to administrative proceedings.

The government of Carlos Mazón "knew perfectly well" that the Poio ravine had overflowed its banks, yet it took hours to send a massive alert to the population. This is the conclusion reached by the the judge investigating the management of the DANA of the Generalitat Valenciana and their alleged responsibility in the deaths of more than 220 people in the floods. The judge of Catarroja's Investigative Court No. 3 analyzed the audio recordings of calls to 112 and confirmed that, as early as 5:10 p.m., people were already calling for help. She therefore concludes that the Valencian government was aware of the seriousness of the situation at that time. However, the mass alert to the population was not sent until after 8:00 p.m.