The embattled yet still-serving president of the Valencia region, Carlos Mazón (main image), told MPs on Monday that officials were unaware people were drowning during last year’s devastating ‘DANA’ floods, as he faced hours of questioning over the disaster that left 229 dead.
Appearing before the parliamentary commission, Mazón also explained that he failed to pick up calls that evening because he was travelling to the Palau de la Generalitat (regional government headquarters) and may have had ‘his mobile phone in his rucksack’, which he said would explain why he did not hear it.
In a tense session in Madrid, MPs from across the chamber interrogated Mazón over the regional response. He maintained that the Es-Alert notification was issued’“when the operational commanders understood that it was appropriate to do so’ and insisted his approval was not required. At Cecopi (emergency coordination centre), he added, ‘Nothing would have changed if it had arrived earlier’.
Although he announced his resignation on 3 November after pressure from parties across the political spectrum, Mazón – of the right-wing People’s Party (PP) – remains under heavy political and public scrutiny. ALSO READ: Carlos Mazón, leader of flood-hit Valencia, finally resigns.
Left-wing Podemos’ leader accused him of bearing personal responsibility for the deaths, while Esquerra Republicana (ERC) party’s spokesperson argued he ought to face prison.
Outside Congress, relatives of victims gathered to protest, following the hearing from the street as the commission continued taking testimony from people directly affected by the floods.
Several MPs criticised what they described as Mazón’s passivity during the emergency, while he countered that authorities had not grasped how severe the situation was as floodwaters tore through Valencia on 29 October 2024, inflicting billions of euros in damage. ALSO READ: Families of Spain’s flood victims express grief and anger at one-year memorial.
‘No one was aware of the magnitude, no one knew that people were drowning,’ he told the chamber.
Mazón offered no fresh clarity on the timeline of his actions that day, including a lengthy lunch with a local journalist or a 45-minute interval when his security detail was absent – precisely when records show the emergency services chief was attempting to contact him.
He told parliament he could not provide a detailed chronology: ‘I cannot be precise about the exact timings.’ He also argued that ‘nothing would’ve changed’ had he cut the lunch short and arrived earlier at the crisis management committee.
Basque Nationalist PNV MP Idoia Sagastizabal joined others in pointing out inconsistencies in his past statements: ‘There are many holes in your versions.’
Mazón defended the unanswered calls from his emergency chief and reiterated that he was not responsible for sending the official flood alert – an alert that reached residents’ phones only hours into the unfolding disaster, by which time many fatalities had already occurred.
‘I hope you pay for everything you’ve done with prison time,’ the ERC’s Gabriel Rufián told him, raising photos of victims and urging Mazón to apologise publicly.
MPs from the left-wing Sumar group and the governing socialists (PSOE) said Valencia’s PP-led regional administration had failed to implement basic precautionary steps, such as cancelling classes or notifying care homes, and criticised its handling of reconstruction funds.
Mazón has repeatedly argued that the central government offered insufficient support, accusing it of acting out of political calculation.
When he announced his departure earlier this month, he acknowledged he had made serious errors and said he would ‘have to live with them for the rest of my life’.
A new regional president has yet to be sworn in, though another PP nominee is expected to replace him.
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