Urgent: Protests for Dana victims demand 'Mazón to prison'

More than 200 social and trade union organisations have called a protest for 26 September in Alacant under the slogan 'Mazón to prison', urging the former Valencian premier to give up his seat in Les Corts so he loses his immunity as a protected official and can testify before the judge over his handling of the DANA. It is the first time the monthly demonstration has left the province of Valencia.

The monthly protest against the handling of the DANA of 29 October 2024 crosses the border of the province of Valencia for the first time. The gathering is on **26 September** in **Alacant**, in front of the Casa de las Brujas, the seat of the Valencian regional government in the city. Behind the call are more than **200 social and trade union organisations**, which have chosen a blunt slogan: 'Mazón to prison'.

The figure that hangs over any event related to the tragedy is that of **233 fatalities**. That is the official count of a catastrophe that hit tens of thousands of people hard and that, two years on, still shapes the calendar of demands by the flood victims' associations. The Alacant protest is not an isolated event, but another link in a series that began just eleven days after the floods, when thousands marched in València under the slogan 'Mazón resign'.

## Immunity, the legal crux of the protest

The core of the demand is procedural. The organising bodies argue that **Carlos Mazón** must give up his seat in **Les Corts** to lose his status as a protected official and be able to testify before the judge leading the incivil case into the handling of the disaster. As long as he keeps his seat as an MP, his testimony remains subject to the corresponding higher court, which, in the organisers' view, delays and complicates the investigation.

The former president of the Generalitat Valenciana left office after the tragedy but kept his parliamentary seat. That decision is what has turned his immunity into the focus of the monthly protests, which until now had been concentrated in the province of Valencia. The choice of Alacant as the setting for 26 September broadens the map of social pressure and takes the demand for accountability to the region's second most populous province.

## A calendar of events culminating in October

The Alacant protest precedes a busy autumn of events. The main victims' associations have scheduled a commemorative programme between **Sunday 25 and Saturday 31 October**, combining acts of mourning, institutional tributes and protest marches in towns such as **Chiva**, **Cheste**, **Albal**, **Benetússer**, **Catarroja**, **Massanassa**, **Paiporta**, **Alaquàs** and **Valencia**.

The bulk of the local marches will take place on **Thursday 29 October**. At 11:00, two separate processions will set off in the Foia de Buñol, one from Chiva and one from Cheste, joining up at 12:00 under the bridge on the CV-50. In the afternoon, at 17:00, two marches will set off from Albal and Benetússer, converging at around 17:45 on the bridge over the ravine between Catarroja and Massanassa. The main demonstration is planned for **Saturday 31 October** at 18:00, from Valencia's Plaza de la Virgen, in front of the Palau de la Generalitat.

## Remembrance, mourning and demands for accountability

The programme is not only about protest. On **Sunday 25 October** at 10:30, the Castell d'Alaquàs will host the gathering 'Memòria, unitat i futur' (Memory, unity and future), promoted by the Association of Victims and Those Affected by the DANA of Valencia, with the aim of naming each of the **233 fatalities** and supporting their families. During the event, the documentary 'Todo lo que perdimos' (Everything we lost) will be screened, the Nova Muixeranga d'Algemesí will perform, and there will be musical performances.

On **Thursday 29 October** at 19:00, at ground zero of the disaster next to the Poyo ravine in Paiporta, the event 'La caixa de la memòria' (The box of memory) will be held, a gathering of victims and volunteers to symbolise the collective mourning and the emotional state that persists in the affected towns. The coincidence of the major demonstration on 31 October with the usual monthly gathering means attendance is expected to far exceed that of previous protests.

The incivil case is still ongoing and none of the parties has been convicted. The demands for resignation and for giving up the seat are claims by the organising bodies, not court rulings.