Mazón's Resignation Speech: 'I Hope People Can Distinguish Between a Man Who Made Mistakes and a Bad Person'

Carlos Mazón has resigned as President of the Generalitat Valenciana on November 3, 2025, a year and five days after the tragic storm that claimed 229 lives, with several deceased and tens of thousands affected in Valencia. The leader announced his departure while defending his honesty and asking society to 'distinguish between a man who made mistakes and a bad person.' These are the key phrases from his speech, where he did not explain how his succession will take place, nor the schedule, deadlines, or the people who may be involved.

- 'This is the first day I will refer to myself.'

- 'I can't take it anymore. Let my departure help focus on this tragedy with the objectivity it requires.'

- 'I hope that when the noise subsides, society can distinguish between a man who made mistakes and a bad person.'

- 'It is time to acknowledge one's own mistakes.'

- 'I have always maintained the same stance: in such a serious situation, discussing my personal, organizational situation, or my political future seemed frivolous. I accepted that burden from the start.'

- 'I would have resigned long ago of my own accord because there have been unbearable moments for me and my family.'

- 'It was said that I was at a birthday party, that I interfered with the alert. All of this was used as an excuse to cover up the failures of government agencies.'

- 'My life changed forever on October 29. I have tried to fight for many things to be known that explained the magnitude of the tragedy.'

- 'It was an unimaginable tsunami that destroyed Valencia both materially and emotionally.'

- 'I know I made mistakes and I acknowledge them. I will live with them all my life.'

- 'I have apologized and I repeat it today, but none of them were out of political calculation or bad faith. We didn't know the Poyo ravine would overflow. I didn't learn about the deceased until the early hours of October 30.'

- 'I made the mistake of keeping the agenda for that day.'

- 'I should have had the political foresight to move to the location. I allowed the idea to spread that the president was unaware of the situation.'

- 'I allowed rumors to spread by not providing explanations.'

- 'I did not request the declaration of a national emergency because the government warned us that it would not provide more resources, although the president of my party advised me to do so and he was right. Above all, I kept the agenda for that day.'

- 'It is true that, with the data from CHJ and Aemet, it was unimaginable that the Poyo ravine would be a death trap.'

- 'It is also true that the storm was centered in Utiel. I should have canceled my agenda and moved there.'

- 'The scale of the flood does not need to be remembered; the impact on crops, homes, vehicles, and especially on mental health forced us to make the greatest imaginable effort. Schools, metros, bridges, roads, vehicles... and even the Albufera, are challenges overcome without funding. How quickly it was said and how quickly it was done.'

- 'From the Generalitat Valenciana, we have done everything humanly possible to activate recovery. Absolutely everything.'

- 'I had the manifest naivety to believe that by receiving the government kindly, the aid would be accelerated.'

- 'I reiterate once again that no regional government has ever faced a challenge even remotely similar.'

- 'We estimated three years and managed to do it in months. Alone. Without any grant from the government, only permission to incur debt, to the most indebted.'

- 'We wanted help, we asked for it, and we never received it.'

- 'They wanted to leave us alone for political strategy.'

- 'I know the noise around me is the perfect excuse to hide the government's responsibility.'

- 'The left exploits death to make politics.'

- 'I know the noise around me is the perfect excuse.'

- 'I will not call them murderers for erring in their predictions,' he says about the central administration.

- 'I just want to ask for one last reflection. The Government of Spain wanted to use the victims as a battering ram and did not give us the resources we needed.'

- 'The victims have every right to express themselves as they wish.'

- 'The material wounds are healing.'

- 'The greatest scars are emotional.'

- 'These months have been extremely tough. The victims can protest and say what they consider, but I no longer have the strength, nor do my family, to continue with the reconstruction.'

- 'The Community must have the momentum it deserves with someone who can lead this new era, without campaigns of hatred and targeting anyone to justify abandonment.'

- 'I appeal to the responsibility of that majority to elect a new president of the Generalitat' (Mazón refers to the parliamentary majority of PP and Vox).

- 'I know the future president will be able to continue with the reconstruction. Now it's time to face the future with strength. It has been an honor to serve my land.'