The President of the Generalitat remained silent and suppressed his joking spirit. Known for his willingness to “joke,” tweet, take photos and appear wherever (or not) necessary, since the day after the tragedy that devastated nearly 70 cities and left more than 200 dead, he was ambushed and alone, he seems to respond in trusted media, many of which are linked to conservative ideology and belong to bishops: because there are connections (his right-hand man was the head of Cope Alicante) or because he thinks he can make his point without being put under too much pressure.
The terrible management of the disaster, the anger in the street, the shootings of Feijóo and the calculated absence of the other strong weight of the PP of Valencia, the mayor, made him take the decision to lower the piston and wait let him calm down, yes. it was possible. He has no plans to resign. There are some who wonder today if, behind this profile of a prankish president, there was also a manager or if it was just hesitation.
On the day of the tragedy, during the night, although he was absent until six in the afternoon for a postponed and improvised meal, Mazón put on his vest and went out at 9:30 p.m. to give information from the center emergency 112. “canutazo”, that is, a declaration in front of the microphones of the Generalitat and regional public television, in Punt. This was the pattern for the first three days of the debacle. Communicate by feigning security and importance and leave, without questions from the press. Communicate an indeterminate number of deaths without saying how many “out of respect” for the families. Control of Mazón and the place where it appears has been maintained until today. He has still not allowed questions to be asked in public nor has he granted an interview on public channels, either national or regional, despite his repeated requests.
Mazón arrived at the Palau de la Generalitat against all expectations, even his own. On May 26, 2023, the electoral reversal was confirmed and this man from Alicante – until then president of the Provincial Deputation, Zaplanist and who occupied positions within the PP throughout his professional life – took control of the Valencian Community. Since then, he has shown himself to be close and “effective”, and he has constantly wanted to sell it on his networks, with videos in which, more than an institutional profile, good humor, speed and friendliness appear. conviviality.
When he assumed the presidency, in July 2023, after an express pact with Vox that ousted Feijóo – La Moncloa was playing that month – he chose a film as his epic date. “The Candidate”, by Robert Redford: “I am not asking Valencians for their unwavering support, but rather for the benefit of the doubt.” Last Saturday, during the demonstration, 130,000 people gave their answer.
In his social profiles until October 29 of this year you will find everything from jokes in his office in Palau to “didactic” explanations. He acted as notary and hostess during raffles. He also personally explained how to download a Valencian certificate to your own computer in no time and then validate with the baccalaureate the title obtained by passing the exam with effort in front of hundreds of thousands of Valencians. The most viral video, without a doubt, did not move: his performance with the group Marengo, with whom he once wanted to go to Eurovision to succeed. He made the rounds on social media when it was learned that he was going to become president.
His publications on the night of the tragedy were unfortunate. Although he maintained a serious and contrite tone – at the height of what was happening, when thousands of people were climbing on trees, roofs and cars – he sowed confusion among the population by asserting that the emergency telephone line 112 was not collapsed, unless it They had not convinced them to insist.
Not only did the building collapse, but people had to turn to Twitter and the radio to ask for help, for themselves or their families. The phone worked, but the 20 operators could not answer the more than 2,000 calls they received. This Thursday, we also learned that The ER had 13 vacancies to fill for months. A few hours before the flood, he had sowed confusion among the Valencians by saying that the storm was heading towards Cuenca and was calming down. He later deleted the tweet.
In the early stages, official accounts provided little information, in part because of confusion and because media and political leaders were focused on the president. Useful and essential information was lacking in the first days. For example, advice to the population and volunteers to prevent infections was launched on November 2. Until then, thousands of people collected mud without masks, glasses or gloves. It was not until Friday 8 that the cell phones of Valencians were launched, the first infections already appearing in hospitals.
Two days after the flood, he gave the first interview to Carlos Franganillo on Telecinco. Then came Antena 3, where he blamed the techs, Aemet, and the Confederacy for what happened. With Carlos Herrera at Cope, Mazón went further and criticized the UME for not asking for more reinforcements. Their networks, at the time, only collected advertisements against the disaster, useful measures, accusations against the Sánchez government and fragments of interviews.
The most surreal moment happened on the day the kings visited. Although the agenda was canceled after Paiporta’s mud catharsis, Mazón arrived at the next stop, Chiva, with his car, even knowing that there were no more visitors. While everyone was heading towards the Cecopi de la Eliana, Mazón stood in the city, where he received insults, and looked for Cope’s microphones to show his presence, trying at the same time to show that Pedro Sánchez had been taken away . There he delivered, alone and stained with mud, another concerted blow.
Carlos Mazón, once so talkative and talkative, retired to the Palau, among his people and in very selected interviews he only answered a few improvised and casual questions at the entrance and exit of the Cecopio . Besides Cope and Antena 3, he has given interviews to media like La 8 mediterráneo, a local television channel with a residual audience and also owned by the bishops, where the star is Lluís Motes, a presenter with whom he is in tune and representative of the era of the greatest manipulation on Channel 9. Trece TV was the other chosen to give explanations, also ultra-conservative and owned by the Episcopal Conference. Another media outlet with a limited audience. The withdrawal of Mazón was the subject of criticism from public television and La Sextawho failed to question the president and filed a statement of complaint.
To protect it and give a better image of solvency, on Monday November 4, Palau decided to change its face to communicate on management: they chose Rosa Tourís, expert in forest fires, the only general director they have found with knowledge of the situation. the topic and profile are technical, after it became clear that the branch advisor is not qualified to give explanations and that when she does, it causes more problems. On the political level, even if the spokesperson of the Consell is Ruth Merino (from Ciudadanos), the president asked his vice-president, Susana Camarero, who appeared in the press room last Thursday, to give her face and its explanations. During this appearance, nine days after the tragedy, the Consell authorized questions from journalists for the first time.
Since D-Day, Mazón has been disoriented and inconsistent in his communication. Latest example, a canutazo wanted at the gates of Cecopi to attack Vice-President Ribera. He appears to stutter as he says there was no coverage while admitting to missing calls. Everything has gotten worse for the guest from Palau since we learned of his “private working lunch”, which he tried to hide with an express visit, prepared and without media, to a city located at ground zero and without repercussions media.
But the bell for Carlos Mazón rang on Saturday. The president had a very bad day. The street was occupied by 130,000 citizens (the capital has 800,000) who requested his resignation. Mazón, who could no longer use sarcasm because there is no room for jokes, sent a mistake to the PP of the Comunitat, who tweeted that the protest came from Catalanists. He, in his profile, became reactive. Instead of listening to an enormity who spoke, he posted seven posts of measures and official announcements, one after the other, during the three hours that his martyrdom lasted.
