Key Official in Dana Management on Pradas: "Did Not Support the First Es Alert, Opposed Sending It Without Mayors' Knowledge, and Ordered Changes in SMS"

Jorge Suárez, the key official in the management of the dana, appears before the magistrate this Thursday. Inexplicably, one of the crucial testimonies to understand the events and circumstances of that fateful afternoon on October 29, 2024, had been waiting a year for his opportunity to present his version. It has been months of significant psychological burden for a man, Deputy Director of Emergencies, who has borne much of the responsibility for that day. He has had no contact with former councillor Pradas or her deputy, Emilio Argüeso, since they left the council.

Suárez first defended the preservation of images of Mazón's arrival at Cecopi because everything that had happened, in reference to the management of the dana, had social impact and it was highly likely that a judicial investigation would be opened. "It was our decision just in case." He mentioned it to his regional secretary after learning that those from the Palau de la Generalitat had been erased, as required by law.

The judge asked him about a report commissioned by the Presidency on the arrival of senior officials at the complex. However, this dossier was not submitted to the court. The conclusions surprised him. "I saw that Mazón had arrived at 20:28 and I was surprised by what I had seen in the press." But he clarified that he does not recall having seen the head of the Consell before. This report was requested by his regional secretary. "I do not erase anything at all."

The official began with a chronology of the start of Cecopi. "I proposed the ability to send messages to mobiles in the Utiel Requena area." He does not mention the Es Alert, although he referred to that capability. "We were seeing that resources could not reach. It is something that, as an Emergency official, stayed with me."

Then, Miguel Polo from the CHJ informed us about the situation of the Forata dam, which was beginning to spill water and was going to evolve to scenario 2, and they did not rule out moving to scenario 3. "This was a very strong impact on all of us there." They were considering a possible break in two hours, he indicated.

Suárez asked about what the CHJ proposed. "You are in charge of Civil Protection," they replied. The plan indicated that the water could reach six or seven meters high in some municipalities in case of a break.

The official insisted that by 17:45 he had already prepared a message to mobiles to warn of the danger of Forata. He has that text handwritten. "I usually take notes in notebooks," he stated. The text was discarded because, although it warned to move to higher areas, it was excessively "mandatory." The first objection came from the head of the firefighters, José Miguel Basset. But no one else supported Suárez's thesis. Not even councillor Pradas, he noted. Moreover, it seems she wanted to consult the legal services because the original text mentioned "remain," which implied confinement. There were legal doubts, the witness confirmed. This occurred around 19:15.

Previously, the famous disconnection of Cecopi had occurred to precisely discuss the drafting and content of that text. Basset, at some point, had even suggested that experts review the content of the SMS. By 19:07, a message had already been uploaded to the Es Alert platform, Suárez assured.

It was then that a new incident was raised at Cecopi. Pradas, Mompó, and Argüeso, among other leaders, indicated that they did not see the point of sending a message without the mayors knowing first. "There I am more of a spectator." In fact, a videoconference was set up for mayors of the affected municipalities, but no one connected. This was done in another room of the complex.

The situation had been very serious since 3 PM. But around 19:20, the situation in the province of Valencia became more alarming. "From Forata, we moved to a larger scope." The message had to be "for the entire province." Suárez clarified that, at no time, was the SMS content for Forata discarded, but "avoid any movement" was added.

Pradas around 19:45 gave the go-ahead but insisted that everyone should agree on the decision. The councillor signed a kind of authorization or mandate on a card, according to the witness, who has provided abundant information previously unknown.

Suárez moved to the Es Alert sending post. There, the message in English had to be removed and put in Valencian. The witness then sought Pradas to tell her that the SMS was ready for sending. But even at that moment, the text was softened by Pradas's order. They did not want it to be so mandatory. "Things were also changed in Valencian, like 'tipus' to 'tipo' and the accent of Valencia, which was not accepted in the province." This was done by Pradas and Mompó.

Two key issues. On one hand, the lack of communications to Cecopi from the calls made to 112. Now a series of algorithms have been established, but at that time there was no analysis of the calls. However, he specified that during the visit to the facilities by Pradas and Argüeso, rescues in Ribarroja were mentioned, for example, where it was not raining.

The second aspect was the surveillance of ravines by the Firefighters. He confirmed the idea of the other colleagues. They left the place and never communicated it to the Emergency headquarters.

The witness, who interrupted his vacation for this emergency, recalled the "uncertainty" that existed in the forecasts about the impact location of the dana.