“The 229 deaths are the direct responsibility of the Generalitat”

About to mark one year since the DANA that hit the Valencian Community and left 229 fatalities, elDiario.es has premiered its documentary Where was Mazón?, co-produced with Barret Cooperativa, Calibrando Producciones and Cosabona Films. This is an investigation that examines the shadows in the management of the Generalitat and the role of President Carlos Mazón in the critical hours of October 29, 2024. After the investigations of the documentary, it is clear that “the 229 deaths are the direct responsibility of the Generalitat,” said Sergi Pitarch, journalist and director of the Valencian edition, during the discussion after the screening at the Cines Verdi in Madrid. The work, which includes unpublished testimonies, archival images and the silences and lies of the Generalitat, is now available to the members of elDiario.es.

The documentary reconstructs the hours of confusion in the management of the storm and addresses the contradictory versions about Mazón’s whereabouts that October 29. In the conversation after the screening, in which the director of elDiario.es, Ignacio Escolar, and the deputy director Raquel Ejerique also participated, Pitarch explained that the president “managed the worst damage we have experienced in the 21st century from a bar, with a friend,” adding that Mazón’s relationship with Maribel Vilaplana—the journalist he ate at the Ventorro—was one of friendship, rather than of friendship. work: “That it was a work meeting is a myth. It was a meal among friends, and in the worst tragedy that Valencia has experienced in years, he goes to a meal with friends.” Regarding the president’s whereabouts after the meal, he added that “there are two options and both are bad: either Mazón finishes the meal and stays for an hour for drinks, or Mazón goes home.”

The debate, in which the partners of elDiario.es have participated with their questions, has also addressed the judicial course of the case. Ignacio Escolar recalled the most recent episode, in which “the judge has called Maribel Vilaplanas to testify as a witness” and that “she has been very careful not to investigate an authorized person”, such as Mazón. According to the elDiario.es director, “it will be necessary to see if this is a maneuver to elevate it to the Superior Court of Justice”, the competent body in case the investigation is extended to the president of the Valencian Generalitat.

The calls between Pradas and Mazón could “single him as responsible”

Raquel Ejerique has argued that “the order is very clear in placing the horizon on the president,” and adds: “The Court opens the door for the judge to charge him if she finds sufficient evidence.” The journalist has explained that the key now is communications: “The only way to link Mazón or not with the decisions of that day are calls. When an important decision has to be made, Salomé (Pradas) calls Mazón. She needed validation, and that could end up pointing her out as responsible.”

The colloquium has also addressed the role of Pradas, then Minister of Justice and Interior of the Generalitat Valenciana, who Ejerique senses that “he still has tricks up his sleeve.” As he explained, Mazón “could have requested the catastrophic emergency and assumed command, but at the time when the victims die, the responsibility falls on the Ministry,” although the calls that Pradas made to Mazón on the 29th suggest that he could have had the last word.

Likewise, Escolar has recalled a technical aspect of the work that has been reflected during the screening, in which texts have been shown explaining that À Punt, the Valencian regional television – which had privileged access to the key Cecopi meeting because it is a public entity – has denied the use of the images from its Dana Day programs that it initially gave to elDiario.es. “The documentary will not premiere in À Punt,” he said ironically.

Another point discussed was the destination of the 12 million euros in donations collected after DANA. “My theory is that they have them in the drawer,” said Ejerique, who has also denounced that “the emergency contracts have punished critical companies and rewarded similar ones: 600 million in contracts, including companies linked to Gürtel. And almost a year later they are still hiring by hand.”