The Popular Party (PP) has shifted its strategy and openly defended Carlos Mazón’s handling of the dana crisis on Saturday. This comes a day after it was revealed that the Valencian president was dining at a central Valencia restaurant until 6:00 p.m. At 3:00 p.m., the situation was already in chaos, with the Aemet weather alert at a red level and multiple emergency calls, flooding in some municipalities, and a missing person. Genova is now trying to justify Mazón’s delayed arrival at the Cecopi meeting on Tuesday, blaming the travel of central government officials that day. Mazón has tried to shift responsibility to the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation and its ultimate responsible, Minister Teresa Ribera. He claims that only after 7:00 p.m., when the Confederation reported a calamitous situation, did everything change.
Mazón acknowledged that the turning point was when the Confederation reported the overflow and the situation changed from a normal storm to a catastrophic one. However, sources reported that at 5:56 p.m., the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation communicated that the Forata reservoir had started to overflow, and by 6:30 p.m., discussions had begun about sending out a mobile alert to warn the population. The PP, particularly spokesperson Miguel Tellado, launched a strong defense of Mazón’s actions, criticizing Minister Ribera and accusing her of not being present during the crisis. Tellado also announced that Mazón would be appearing before the Valencian Parliament to explain his actions during the crisis. In contrast, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska avoided getting involved in the controversy and emphasized the government’s focus on helping the affected areas.
Sources from the PSOE strongly deny the accusations made by the PP and assert that Vice President Ribera was constantly working and reachable during the crisis. They confirmed that Ribera participated in the crisis committee meeting remotely on the night of October 29 and returned to Madrid early the next morning. Ribera revealed that she had tried to contact Mazón four times during the Cecopi meeting on October 29, between 7:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., with no response until the fourth attempt. Mazón later shared a message from Ribera offering assistance at 8:20 p.m. on social media, disputing claims of his absence during the crisis.
Despite criticisms from the PP, Mazón’s office claimed that he had met with journalist Maribel Vilaplan to discuss offering her a role at the regional television network À Punt. Tellado continued to attack the PSOE for not canceling the RTVE debate in Congress, while canceling the control session. The PP criticized the PSOE for prioritizing party interests over the crisis, highlighting the unity shown by Spanish society in the face of the disaster. Mazón’s team defended his actions during the crisis and maintained that he was actively involved in managing the situation.
