Almost two weeks after DANA, Carlos Mazón has still not assumed his leadership responsibilities and has not resigned as thousands of Valencians have already asked him to do. The president of the Generalitat Valenciana clings to his chair, while defending himself with a false story: he claims that “they did not inform him”, but his government received notifications and had detailed information on the most destructive cold drop of the century in Valencia, with more than 200 dead.
That same Monday, Mazón was reprimanded by a group of residents of Torrent (Valencia) -one of the municipalities seriously affected by DANA- after his visit. “Resign now, resign now, resign now, resign now!”, the neighbors shouted at him and called him “killer“e”incompetent” and they asked him to resign. The president, far from recognizing his serious errors, defended that ““A quantity of water came in that they had not been warned about before.” and that he “understands” his indignation.
The “popular” strategy is to entrench themselves because they do not want to leave the Palau de la Generalitat Valenciana. In fact, in his possible government restructuring project there could be layoffs of certain advisors. He could announce something next Thursday when he comes to give explanations on his management to the Valencian Courts, where a plenary session is being held for the first time since the tragedy.
For now, Mazón remains. He does this by telling a false story, ensuring that if he did not do better, it is “because they did not warn him”. The problem is that this is not true because the Generalitat received notifications, Mazón’s team received detailed information about what was going to happen. The alerts took place early in the morning, specifically from 7:36 a.m. on Tuesday, October 29, when the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) had already activated the red notices in the province of Valencia, which is the highest level.
Despite this warning, Mazón continued his program throughout the morning. Meanwhile, the 112, dependent on the Generalitat, was launched that day at 12:20 p.m. hydrological alert based, curiously, on data from the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar (CHJ), an organization against which the president filed a complaint repeatedly. “The Emergency Coordination Center issues a special hydrological alert notice in the municipalities of the Poyo ravine area. The trend is increasing and precipitation continues in the upper reaches. It is important that municipalities adopt preventive measures to prevent people from accessing banks. In case of emergency, you must call 112,” he warns in this tweet.
Tuesday at 12:23 p.m., a few minutes later, the government delegate, Pilar Bernabé, called the Minister of Justice and Interior and head of emergencies of the Generalitat, Salomé Pradas, to offer her help. He would do this up to three times, without success. Shortly after, at 1 p.m., the Valencian president appeared and downplayed the matter, assuring that “according to forecaststhe storm diverts towards the Cuenca mountain rangeit is therefore expected that at 6 p.m. its intensity will decrease throughout the Valencian Community.”
But at 2 p.m., some did their job well with the forecasts in hand, such as the case of the Provincial Delegation of Valencia which ordered its workers to return home. The situation was already worrying and the first missing person was reported, which is why the Generalitat convened this emergency committee to which Mazón arrived two hours late: after 7:00 p.m. and in which the key call is received from the mayor of Paiporta, assuring that his town was flooded and that many people could die. At 8:11 p.m., 13 hours later in the Aemet opinion and with CHJ data updated throughout the daythe Generalitat has launched the mobile alert to Valencians. He did this with an alert system whose existence the emergency manager herself claimed to be unaware of a few days later.
Admits his “mistakes” for the first time
Mazón’s story has gaps and lies, just like the only open defense that Popular Party President Alberto Núñez Feijóo made of the regional president’s management during DANA. Feijóo assured on October 31, from the first days of this crisis, that the president had informed him “since Monday in real time. In the meantime, Mazón claims that the central government has not informed him of anything and even alleged coverage problems during the CECOPI (Integrated Center for Operational Coordination) meeting.
Today, support for Carlos Mazón is unclear and he and his team increasingly feel cornered. Popular pressure, unanswered questions from the media, non-existent support from the national PP because, the truth is that the Valencian president was not there when he was needed and his government sent the alarm to cell phones when Thousands of Valencians were already trying to survive the floods. His situation is so critical that on Monday afternoon he entered the CECOPI meeting through the main door, where he did not answer questions because he was “late”, and left through the back door .
Shouting “don’t even get dirty”: this is how he was received in the afternoon by a neighbor who lives next to the Barranco del Poyo where Mazón was to visit the reconstruction work of a bridge on the CV-33. There he answered some questions, leaving a message that we had not heard until now because he acknowledged that “mistakes” could have been made. A recognition of an error and in public, something never seen before in this crisis of the Mazón government. “I think we have to assume that mistakes may have been madeWithout a doubt, this must be done with complete humility,” he said.
And he clarified that these days they have reviewed what happened on the day of DANA “with all the warnings that were given by the Generalitat Valenciana in the previous days, also on that day, multiple warnings until the final alert, depending on the latest information thatregarding the Forata dam, transferred the Spanish government.” The president suggests that he wants to stay but announces that he will let go and that those who are in danger are his advisors.
So restructuring, yes, but no resignations because the president of the Generalitat clings to his post and it is others who will pay for the mismanagement of the disaster. Another thing will be what the leaders of the PP do, who have not dared to give clear public support to Carlos Mazón for days. “Popular” leaders They don’t want to press charges against his leadership, but they also don’t want to support him and that this whole crisis ends up affecting them. At the same time, he says he feels supported: “I feel supported, of course, by my party.”
