The president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, finally gave explanations in Les Cortes on his Management at DANA which struck the Valencian Community on October 29. He did so in a speech which lasted two hours and 26 minutes and which was marked by its contradictions, its inaccuracies, its half-truths and its lies and, above all, by very little “self-criticism” of its management , although he himself claimed to have it. .
Far from recognizing his mistakes, the president of the Generalitat pointed the finger at the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation (CHJ), AEMET and the Government Delegation. These are some of Mazón’s lies in his speech, although in his speech he assured that it seemed “Tell the truth without falsifying anything.”
“AEMET indicated that at 6 p.m. this file would be completed”
Confused. Mazón also had words to offload his responsibilities to the National Meteorological Agency (AEMET). Thus, the president of the Generalitat hid behind the fact that AEMET said that at 6 p.m., the red notice ended and that is why he assured that morning that the danger would have passed. But in this case, there are many nuances: AEMET actually had the red notice active until 6:00 p.m., but these notices are updated throughout the day, that is to say they can change. And in fact, they have changed: at 5:54 p.m., this situation continued. But let’s say that it was over at that time: the red notice would have transformed into an orange notice, which also implies a “significant risk” and requires taking precautions.
“They didn’t need to keep me informed of anything”
Fake. During his appearance, Mazón assured that he was “fully aware of the situation” on October 29 and insisted that there was no need to make him aware of anything “once he arrived at the CECOPI meeting The sources consulted by laSexta tell us everything on the contrary, when Mazón arrived, it was necessary to spend time informing him and informing him of the situation. emergency has was interrupted to inform him.
As revealed a few days after the tragedy, the president of the Generalitat arrived two hours late at the emergency meeting the day DANA arrived in Valencia because he was having lunch with the journalist Maribel Vilaplana to offer her the direction of the Valencian television channel À Punt.
Furthermore, the third vice-president and minister of ecological transition and demographic challenge, Teresa Ribera, assured that the afternoon of DANA It took him “up to four calls” to locate the president of the Generalitat Valenciana.
“The trip was not easy, the bad weather caused heavy traffic”
Confused. Mazón, who had already arrived at the meeting with flooded streets and calls for dramatic situations, defended this Friday that there was “traffic” that delayed him and that his absence did not delay the taking decision. A statement that falls under its own weight.
Sources from the Generalitat told laSexta that after finishing the “meeting”, that is, the meal with the journalist, “he arrived at the Palau de la Generalitat at 6 p.m., from where he continued to be informed promptly with his office of developments.” of the situation caused by DANA”. Thus, they added that Mazón “moved to the command center of La Eliana after 7 p.m., to monitor the entire situation there”.
The distance between the restaurant where I ate with the journalist and the Palau is a 10-minute walk and between the Palau and the command center of La Eliana (112) it is a half-hour drive. So, if Mazón left Palau around 7 p.m. and arrived at CECOPI at 7:45 p.m., the traffic was not very heavy.
“The ES-Alert system had never been used”
Lie. The president of the Generalitat Valenciana said that the ES-Alert system had never been used until now in the Valencian Community and was not included in the projects. The truth is that these mobile alerts to the population yes, they are being considered. As can be seen in a 2024 circular focusing specifically on flood prevention, the Generalitat announced that “from this year the population alert system (ES Alert) is active through the National Network of ‘Alert”.
The story of the “information blackout”
Fake. The president of the Generalitat insisted on his thesis of an “information blackout” on the part of the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar, assuring that the information on the deadly flood in the Poyo ravine was “fragmented, inaccurate and late” and that this organization did not report it for more than two hours, until 6:43 p.m. on the day of the tragedy. “The most striking thing of all is that the Confederation, present at CECOPI, said nothing,” he criticized.
“No one said anything, neither the President of the Confederation nor his collaborators and that up to nine senior officials and technicians of the Confederation received this afternoon all communications by email on the evolution of the Poyo ravine and no one warned of the disastrous consequences that this caused the flood level of the flow,” Mazón said.
Certain accusations he made despite the fact that it has emerged in recent days that the CHJ sent almost 200 emails throughout the day, warnings of danger, including two in the period in which the Generalitat claims to have received no warning, in which the alarm was triggered due to the rain accumulated in Chiva, at the head of the Rambla del Poyo. Flow data is also public.
