BIEL ALINO/EPA
Why didn’t Mazó answer the phone calls at the end of the day? Not even in an emergency. Lunch with journalist raises questions.
Just over a year ago, Valence lived one of the worst days ever. To the floods They destroyed a large part of the city.
Isolated Depression at High Levels – killed more than 200 people; more than 300 thousand were affected.
But much has been investigated around this flood. On the same day, it was realized that, although the Spanish National Meteorological Agency had issued a red rain warning since 7 am for the Valencia region, it was only at 8:11 pm that the local inhabitants received an alert from civil protection – when most of the victims would have already died.
The investigations continued and targeted a main target: local government institutions, the Valencian Generalitat. The Justice and Interior advisor, Salomé Pradas, refused to send the alert by SMS, as soon as she received the recommendation from the technicians; preferred to wait for the arrival of Carlos Mazón, president of the Generalitat – who arrived early in the evening (he had spent the afternoon in a restaurant).
And even this lunch raises questions, The chronology around it leaves doubts.
He warns him that DANA’s official chronology doesn’t match up with this meeting between Mazón and a journalist, in a restaurant.
The then president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, was having lunch that day with journalist Maribel Vilaplana, in a private room at the El Ventorro restaurant.
It was almost four hours: from 3pm to 6:45pm. Always inside, while much of the city fell into chaos.
A invoice presented at the table does not fit the official version: 165 euros for “two set menus” – the initial version talked about an informal meal, with just starters and a few glasses of wine.
The judge who asked the restaurant for the invoice justified the request: the need to know “the extent of the party”.
Another doubt: the official version indicated that the meeting ended before 7pm – but the car park ticket shows that the journalist only left with her car at 19h47.
In other words, during that period, and if lunch had already ended, because Carlos Mazón (president of the Generalitat) Didn’t answer the calls? Including calls with internal emergency code.
Mazón has already resigned. The inauguration of successor Juanfran Pérez Llorca takes place precisely this Thursday.
