The University of Valencia (UV) sent a press release to all its students on Monday afternoon, October 28, one day before the episode of torrential rains which overflowed the Poyo ravine, causing more than 200 deaths, announcing the suspension of price due to forecasts. heavy rain. On the morning of the fateful Tuesday 29, after the red notice announced by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) at 7:36 a.m., it was agreed to suspend all teaching, administrative, research and cultural activities on all campuses and university facilities.
This measure, which, given the severity of the floods, avoided endangering the integrity of 50,000 students, 3,000 technical staff, administrative and auxiliary service staff and more than 5,000 teachers, did not please to the President of the Valencian Government, Carlos Mazón. .
As reported by elDiario.es, after the event at the Palau de la Generalitat in which the head of the Consell, around 1 p.m., said that the storm was heading towards the Serranía de Cuenca and that it would lose strength at 6 p.m. hours: Around 10 a.m. he met with representatives of the Business Confederation of the Valencian Community (CEV), the UGT and the CCOO to talk about regional budgets, meeting before lunch with journalist Maribel Vilaplana during which he offered him the management of À Punt.
In addition to Mazón, the Vice President and Minister of Social Services, Equality and Housing, Susana Camarero, and the Minister of Economy, Finance and Public Service, Ruth Merino, were also present on behalf of the Government Valencian. On the CEV side, there was its president, Salvador Navarro, and on the union side, its general secretaries, Ismael Sáez (UGT-PV) and Ana García (CCOO-PV). The meeting was scheduled for 1:30 p.m., but it started after 1:45 p.m.
Eyewitnesses to the meeting with employers and unions confirmed to this newspaper that Mazón was unhappy with the suspension of classes and activities decreed by the University management, considering it exaggerated. This was conveyed to those present in an informal interview before discussing the details of the regional accounts. And this despite the fact that at that time the Aemet Red Notice was in full force and the hydrological alert had already been launched after the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar (CHJ) reported the overflow of the Poyo ravine, an alert that occurred at 12:20 p.m. . Mazón left the meeting shortly before 2:30 p.m. and it ended a few minutes later. From this meeting he went directly to the Ventorro restaurant, a five-minute walk from the Palau de la Generalitat, for the “private working” lunch with the journalist.
While the UV took preventive measures the day before the tragedy, as did some mayors of their respective municipalities where they also suspended classes, the Generalitat Valenciana took 12 and a half hours after Aemet’s notice to launch the alert on the population’s cell phones, while thousands of people were already trapped. For example, at the Levante International School in Chiva, students and teachers were surprised by the storm and spent the night in the center due to flooding. The Provincial Delegation of Valencia sent its workers home on October 29 at noon and closed its non-emergency work centers at 2 p.m.
