Carlos Mazón dismisses Salomé Pradas after failing in DANA management

Juan Carlos Valderrama Zuirán will take over the Ministry of Emergencies and Interior, while Nuria Martínez Sanchis will be appointed Minister of Justice, replacing Salomé Pradas, who was previously the Minister of Justice and Interior.

The new Minister of Emergencies and Interior holds a doctorate in Medicine and Surgery and is currently a professor at the University of Valencia in the Department of History of Science and Documentation, as well as the director of the Social and Health Information and Research Group (UISY Group).

Between 2014 and 2017, he served as the Deputy Government Delegate in the province of Valencia, working with the State Security Forces and Corps, Local Police, Private Security, the National Police Corps unit assigned to the Valencian Community, and Civil Protection.

During this period, he promoted the Local Security Boards in the province of Valencia, the Director Plan for Coexistence and Improvement of Security in educational centres and their surroundings. He also advocated for training in rural security, gender violence, hate crimes, and discrimination for the State Security Forces and Corps.

Previously, he held the position of Deputy Director General and Head of the Security and Training Area in the Ministry of Governance and Justice (2009-2014), during which the current headquarters of the Valencian Institute of Public Safety and Emergencies in Cheste was planned.

He has been a collaborator and coordinator of European projects such as "UNARS", approved within the Daphne III programme on "Children as victims and perpetrators of violence" within the Daphne III programme and "HERA Improving Police Management on Domestic Violence by Women's Empowerment", approved within the Daphne III programme.

He has also published over 190 articles in scientific journals, collaborated on 17 books, and is a member of committees of scientific journals, representation in national and international scientific societies, research bodies, commissions, and advisory councils.

In 2024, he received the Cross of Military Merit with White Distinction; in 2018, the Gold Decoration of the Generalitat for Police Merit, and in 2017, the Cross of Police Merit with White Distinction, among other awards.

The lawyer Nuria Martínez Sanchis will be the Minister of Justice, heading the new department that splits from the current Ministry of Justice and Interior.

Martínez Sanchis holds a degree in Law from the University of Valencia in 1999 and a doctorate in Law from the Catholic University of Valencia in 2016. She has been practising law since 2000; between 2018 and 2023, she was the Dean of the Faculty of Legal, Economic, and Social Sciences at the Catholic University of Valencia, where she is a professor of Civil Law and several postgraduate courses at the Catholic University of Valencia. She is also the director of a master's degree in Law and Procurement.

Until July 2024, she was a member of the Family and Succession Section of the Official College of Lawyers of Valencia, and between 2010 and 2023, Dean of the Faculty of Legal, Economic, and Social Sciences.

She has participated in international forums and congresses related to Family Law, a regular contributor to the ICAV Family and Succession Section magazine with articles related to family law and in scientific manuals and books and legal journals.

Valderrama and Martínez will be assigned the responsibilities that were previously attributed to the Ministry of Justice and Interior, whose head was Salomé Pradas.

The President of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, expresses gratitude for the political generosity and foresight of Salomé Pradas, acknowledging her great work both in her current roles and in those she performed as Minister of Environment, Water, Infrastructure, and Territory.

From her management, in the first stage of this legislature, the unblocking of the works of the Alicante intermodal station, the review of the use and management plans of natural parks, the initiation of the renewal of public transport service concessions in the Valencian Community, the promotion of the road ring projects of Elche and Castellón, and the study of the expansion of new metro lines in the city of Valencia stand out.

Subsequently, at the head of the Ministry of Justice and Interior, the improvements in the working conditions of forest firefighters stand out, her determined commitment to promoting modernization, digitalization, and agility in judicial service with the planning of the works of the Gandia and Alzira Justice Palaces or the expansion of the City of Justice of Castellón; the determined support for the duty shift to ensure decent working conditions, support for associations of victims of terrorism, and the defence and promotion of elements that identify the Valencian people.

With these appointments, which add to the previously announced additions in recent days of Marián Cano, as Minister of Innovation, Industry, Commerce, and Tourism, and Francisco José Gan Pampols, as Vice President for Economic and Social Recovery, the Consell concludes the reshuffle of the Valencian Government promoted by President Carlos Mazón, whose objective and priority is the reconstruction and total recovery of all areas affected by the terrible DANA that hit the province of Valencia on October 29.

In the coming days, the swearing-in of the new positions will take place, as well as the publication of the appointments in the Official Gazette of the Generalitat Valenciana.