At the side entrance to the Palau de la Generalitat, in Calle Caballeros de València, hand marks still remain on the wall of the Gothic building, all of them in an intense red and bloody tone, some very visible and others more vague. , who resist the cleaning of the facade of the seat of regional power. They were stamped – and they remain there – on November 9 during the massive protest against the catastrophic management of DANA, which left 222 dead and five missing. In one of the imposing windows of the Palau there are also remains of mud, brought “ex profeso” from Horta Sud, as a “memory” of the people who took to the streets with a unanimous cry addressed to the president. Every time Carlos Mazón enters or leaves his workplace, television cameras inevitably include red hands in their footage. It is another metaphor for the times in which we live in Valencia, like the exact time (20.11) when the massive alert arrived on cell phones on October 29, Car Day. The hands engraved on the Palau, for the moment, have not been erased. Neither is the time of the alert.
During the inauguration ceremony of the new advisors and the new vice president for reconstruction, retired lieutenant general Francisco José Gan Pampols, the authorities present accepted and exited through the entrance with their red hands on the wall . It was an unprecedented act, without the traditional subsequent transfer of portfolios, thus sparing the bad news to the disastrous councilors Salomé Pradas and Nuria Montes.
Mazón no longer rejoices in the videos he posts on his social networks. He doesn’t even sing anymore. The banality of the frivolous thing, which he maintained until the day he left a long meal in a booth at the Ventorro restaurant, now belongs to the past (even if it is so recent).
Thus, the new government phase has a component of militarization (or, at least, something similar to a civil-military junta), with the visible face of Gan Pampols as a bomb shield. However, as war scenarios in the Middle East have proven time and time again, whether in Iraq, Palestine or Lebanon, armored vehicles do not always withstand the onslaught of the insurgency. It remains to be seen how far the social insurrection in Valencia will reach.
With a straight face, Mazón and the new advisors remained firm throughout the landmark event, in which the media found themselves locked in a press room located in a Generalitat building, opposite the Palau, where they were able to follow Mazón’s intervention through a screen.
The new Consell spokesperson, Susana Camarero, served as presenter and asked Mazón to act as a “witness” to the nominations, an ambivalent term in legal and judicial terms. Gan Pampols, born in Figueres, spoke in Valencian, with a strong voice.
The president inaugurated a sort of new “Afghan model” of the Consell, a reconstruction piloted with valuable help from the private sector and coordinated by a retired lieutenant general with military experience in the former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan.
Without being too relevant, the head of the Consell highlighted – twice – the role in the “recovery” phase of the provinces of Alicante (a real career of Mazonian positions) and Castelló, “which will not be foreign to this effort . “collective and which has initiatives and projects which, without a doubt, will bring a lot and good to the task that we all have before us. “A lot and good; but without any idea of what.
“Sentimental” recovery
Carlos Mazón tries, with great difficulty, to give “a new meaning to all the action of the Consell”, which faces the challenge of economic, social and – be careful – also “sentimental” recovery.
He told Gan Pampols: “This is why, here today, Vice President, I entrust you with carrying out these actions with the speed and rigor that have characterized your professional career and your prestige. I know you will.
The new Minister of Emergencies and Interior, Juan Carlos Valderrama, has been tasked with “rethinking the entire” system of prevention, alert and civil protection in the event of future emergencies or crisis situations of any nature, including sanitary facilities. Even though it was cool in Valencia, no one started to tremble since the former head of the emergency department, Salomé Pradas, had already been fired in the Official Gazette of the Generalitat Valenciana.
Mazón explained the obligation to “require” the modification of the protocols to “adapt them to new realities, both climatic and from the point of view of territory and modern infrastructure, which entail risks unknown just a few years ago. .” Just two years ago, when he led the opposition, he claimed that the protocols were “perfectly clear”, although it would frankly take too long to break down the endless list of lies, falsehoods and inaccuracies that Mazón has been speaking since October 29.
In another order of things, Carlos Mazón also entrusted to the new Minister of Justice, Nuria Martínez Sanchis, the “fundamental mission” of nothing less than solving the “challenge” of the digital transformation of the administration of the Justice and the Valencian function. public, burdened by “eternal procedures” which slow down the courts. We do not know the face of the president of the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community (TSJ-CV), Pilar de la Oliva, presented in the Nova Room of the Palau de la Generalitat as the highest institutional representative of the judicial power indigenous. At the very least, I’m sure it’s skepticism after hearing the same refrain so many times. The Civil and Criminal Chamber of the TSJ-CV is awaiting a decision on several complaints and a complaint against the accused Carlos Mazón.
To Marian Cano, new Minister of Industry and Innovation, Mazón insisted on “maintaining the good pace of investment in the three provinces”. The head of the Consell even briefly benefited from his previous management of DANA.
Recognition of “justice” to Pradas and Montes
In short, the head of the Regional Executive pleaded for everything he did not do on the day of the disaster: “We must anticipate, prevent and respond to emergencies in a more agile, faster and more efficient way. And do it, not only in times of crisis, but preventively to minimize the impact of possible adverse situations. “Prevention will also be the answer,” he said almost a month after disappearing into a long and controversial agape despite what was coming.
Of course, the president advocated giving explanations “adequately and by all official means.” “Explain more, do it much better,” he added, causing a certain hilarity in the press room where the media who followed the appearance were cornered.
A similar effect was caused by the mention of the two most famous disaster advisors, those who made big mistakes: “As is fair, I also want to recognize Salomé Pradas and Nuria Montes for the work they have accomplished during all this time. Mazón, logically, did not detail the “work accomplished” by Pradas, who was caught systematically lying, and by Montes, the municipal councilor who heartlessly addressed the victims’ relatives. At least the second one apologized. The first, not even that.
The President of the Consell closed his speech by referring to the social and popular atmosphere in Valencia: “a context of rage and pain that we all understand and accept, however bitter it may be.” “We are not ignoring this suffering, not even the indignation which can accompany it at certain moments and which everyone should understand,” he added for good measure.
Moreover, the words “change” and “climate” together did not appear at any time in Mazón’s speech.
clandestine president
Carlos Mazón left his post as president in favor of the new “Afghan model”. He can no longer attend public events without hearing loud cries or reproaches. This is why, while its executive enters a phase of reconstruction, it enters into semi-clandestinity.
He does not give press conferences with questions (the last one, inevitable when you appear accompanied by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, dates back to November 1). He only appeared in media close to the right and in brief responses to television channels that intercepted him at the entrance to the Eliana Emergency Coordination Center or at the exit from the Palau, in the latter case always with hands on a red background. . On November 24, after a worker died in Massanassa due to a landslide, he canceled his visit to the town after shouting at government delegate Pilar Bernabé. During his appearance before the Valencian courts on November 15, despite a large police deployment, the president entered the regional Parliament in a virtually secret manner.
Carlos Mazón built a “green zone” around himself, like the so-called safe space that the invading army built in the Iraqi capital. Even if the president does not seem to want to realize it, the “Afghan model” generally goes wrong, whether in Kabul, Baghdad or South Horta.
