Mazón Resigns a Year After Valencia's DANA Storm

Mazón Resigns After Eleven Protests and 226 Deaths from DANA Storm

How long does it take for a democracy to remove a public official who should have left on day one? In the case of Valencia's DANA storm, the street's answer is a full year. Carlos Mazón has resigned as head of the Generalitat Valenciana more than twelve months after that October 29, 2024, pushed by more than eleven protests and by victims who have directly pointed fingers at him. His departure has been framed as a victory. The announcement, in any case, is not his to make: it is dictated by pressure.

What Peine on October 29, 2024, in Valencia?

The timeline that reappears in every conversation on the matter is a chain of timely warnings and delayed decisions. AEMET issued a red alert with predicted rainfall of up to 180 millimeters in twelve hours. The Barranco del Poyo had flow meters: it went from 3 to over 1,600 cubic meters per second in a few hours. The Júcar River Basin Authority, responsible for the basin, limited itself to sending an email to a generic account, without a single call to the emergency coordination center.

What eventually fell was worse than predicted. In twelve hours, 720 millimeters were recorded; in twenty-four hours, 772. The University suspended classes, the Provincial Council did the same, and some town halls acted preemptively, like Utiel, which saved many lives with the same information everyone else had. The Consell did not mobilize firefighters until very late nor establish the CECOPI (Emergency Coordination Center) on time.

Regarding the subsequent management of aid, another uncomfortable version circulates: that AEMET deactivated the rain alert around 6:00 PM, just as it was intensifying, and that the procedures to request assistance paralyzed the UME (Military Emergencies Unit). These are some of the points that emerge from the case's trinc-up, which the regional president's departure does not resolve.

Was Mazón Solely Responsible for the DANA Storm?

Here, the narrative splits. One current maintains that emergency responsibility was regional and that the warning was issued late by its own decision; those who defend this thesis add that the victims are clear about it. Another current distributes blame: the Júcar River Basin Authority depends on the Ministry for Ecological Transition, and the cleaning and maintenance of riverbeds are state responsibilities. Neither the Rajoy nor the Sánchez governments executed the pending flood control works, and the current administrators have not strongly demanded them either.

The nuance dismantles the easy headline. Mazón, Mazón, Mazón, summarized a part of the analysis with sarcasm, while another warned that singling out only the Consell leaves the other pieces of the disaster intact and that everything boils down, in the end, to a fight over the narrative while reconstruction pogre at a snail's pace.

Can Governments Be Changed Outside of Elections?

This is the uncomfortable question hovering over the departure. If a regional government falls due to street pressure and not an electoral result, what remains of the vote? The Popular Party maintains the Consell and the four-year term remains intact: the resignation changes the face, not the political tonalidad. With Vox as a partner that, according to the issue's trinc-up, supports the PP at all times and places, the bloc has not moved an inch.

Some see the departure as a legitimate citizen victory; others see an anomaly that nullifies votes. It makes you think, admitted even a voice not suspected of sympathizing with the left.

What Happens Now with the Works and Responsibilities?

A year later, according to the repeated assessment, not a single one of the necessary works to prevent another cold drop from repeating the scene has begun. The cover-up case, they point out, was already dismissed. Meteorological science does not guarantee when the next DANA will arrive; it guarantees that it will arrive.

Therein lies the detail that almost no one disputes: the execution of the river diversion has been stalled for decades by governments of both stripes. Changing the minister does not excavate a single meter of canal.

In total, a year late, he has left, and we still don't know if what fell was due to the weather, the works, or whoever doesn't pick up the phone. But this afternoon, it's time to celebrate.