Cuenca and Rovira to Appear Before the Dana Commission in Congress

On Monday, the Congressional commission investigating the management of the Dana on October 29, 2024, which resulted in the deaths of 229 people in the province of Valencia, will hear from José Manuel Cuenca, chief of staff to former regional president Carlos Mazón, and the then Minister of Education, Culture, Universities, and Employment, José Antonio Rovira.

Cuenca was not with Mazón on that catastrophic day as he had traveled to Xátiva for personal reasons, but he remained in contact with both Mazón and the then Minister of Emergencies, Salomé Pradas, who is under investigation by the judge overseeing the tragedy's management.

Mazón's 'right-hand man', who shares an apartment with him in Valencia's capital and also serves as the regional secretary of Communication for the Generalitat, suggested the lunch meeting between Mazón and journalist Maribel Vilaplana to offer her the directorship of Á Punt, the regional television station. He was not present at El Ventorro, but he knew the president would dine there.

The judge investigating the management of the Dana summoned him as a witness on November 26 to inquire about his communications with Mazón and Pradas. He explained in court that minutes before 5 p.m. on the day of the flood, he warned the regional president via WhatsApp that the situation in Utiel was worsening.

Cuenca told the judge that he had a first conversation with Pradas at 1:19 p.m., and she asked him to inform Mazón that, due to the Emergency Level 1 situation, she was heading to the Ribera Alta area. He spoke with her again at 4:48 p.m., and the former minister informed him that she was heading to Utiel, where the Military Emergency Unit (UME) was being deployed.

After this conversation, at 4:56 p.m., there was another call between them in which Cuenca asked if it was possible to reach Utiel by car to conduct an initial assessment, but the former minister told him it was not possible.

It was minutes later when Cuenca contacted Mazón via WhatsApp to inform him that the Cecopi was about to start and that the situation in Utiel was becoming complicated. The 'president' replied "perfect" and indicated his intention to travel there after the Cecopi.

On Monday, the Minister of Education, José Antonio Rovira, will also appear in Congress to explain, among other things, why classes were not suspended in the province of Valencia despite the red alert issued by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) for that October 29.

Last January, in the Valencian Parliament, Rovira admitted that after the Consell meeting on October 29, he traveled to San Vicente because he had "things" to do there, and by then, Aemet "was saying that the storm was heading towards Cuenca."

The Valencian opposition has been demanding answers for not suspending classes in the community, as the University of Valencia did in response to the rain alert issued by Aemet, and also for the death of a worker at a school in Massanassa affected by the flood.

At the time, the Minister of Education explained that he was not aware of the university authorities' decision to suspend classes on October 29 because the University of Valencia is "autonomous."

Following these appearances, the commission's board, chaired by socialist Carmen Martínez Ramírez, will meet to decide on new appearances, and Sumar has announced that it will request to summon journalist Maribel Vilaplana, who dined with Mazón for hours on the day of the Dana. Sumar's commissioners believe the journalist lied to the judge, as they consider it "impossible" that she did not hear Mazón's calls when they shared a private room at El Ventorro, and they suspect Vilaplana knows more than she admits about those hours before the late alert was sent.