A concentration held in the Plaza de la Virgen of València has once again demanded that the immunity not be applied to the former head of the Consell on the day of the dana, Carlos Mazón, considering that "the rights of the victims must be above a procedural guarantee such as regional immunity." During the event, 22 questions were raised, as many as the months that have passed since that October 29, 2024, day on which 231 people died. Among them, the attendees asked: "Since when did you know? What has changed so that it does not happen again? Why does our regional government not trust science? Would an alert arrive on time today?".
More than 200 civic, social, and union entities, along with victim associations, the Local Emergency and Reconstruction Committees (CLER), and the Valencian Social Agreement (ASV), have promoted this call coinciding with the 22 months since the dana that caused 231 deaths in the province of València.
Among the audience, T-shirts with slogans such as "No to Mazón's immunity" or "20.11, neither forget nor forgive" (neither forget nor forgive) were seen, in addition to banners with messages like "Neither left nor right. We want a government that protects us," "Mazón to prison. València does not want you," "Less lies and more justice, murderers" or "When one lies, not only is the truth hidden, but also the lie."
Likewise, posters with slogans such as "Veritat, Justícia, Reparació" (Truth, Justice, Reparation), "Memòria, Justícia i Reparació" (Memory, Justice and Reparation) or "- PP, Vox and the Superior Court of Justice complicit," were displayed while chants such as "They are not deaths, they are murders" (no son muertes, son asesinatos) and "No to immunity, yes to Picassent" (no al aforamiento, sí a Picassent) were shouted.
During the protest, proclamations such as "Consell resignation"; "There is no forgiveness, Mazón to prison"; "Less bullfighters, more firefighters"; "It is not a Consell, it is a mafia" or "More firefighters and fewer bullfighters" were also heard. The concentration featured the performance of Pau Alabajos.
In statements to the media, the president of the Associació Víctimes Mortals Dana-29O, Rosa Álvarez, emphasized that they are back on the street 22 months later because, for the families of the deceased victims, "neither pain nor memory nor justice" should be "on vacation."
Álvarez has added that they continue to demand "what we still do not know" and has recalled that on November 3, 2025, "they kicked out" Carlos Mazón, but "he is still there, at least in person when he comes," he indicated, to emphasize that the 'expresident' "has not" left politics.
"We are back here, one month, another, and all the ones needed. We hope that one day it will not be necessary to come to demand justice, truth, and reparation, but to say goodbye and thank you definitively," he stated.
Criticism of the immunity and management after the dana
On behalf of the Association of Victims and Affected by the DANA of València, Elisabeth González has censured that the "main responsible" continues "immune," "earning a huge salary" and "has the indecency of not even showing up for his job," referring to Carlos Mazón. In her opinion, the "first mistake" of the Popular Party has been to "support" the one who was president of the Generalitat on the day of the dana: "They should have invited him to leave through the back door" and thus "they would have set an example for the citizens."
Regarding the accusations of being "partisan," she emphasized that they are not. She pointed out that "the only thing to do is read our complaint" to "verify that there are agents involved from both the left and the right (...) because in our association we have members of all colors and the mud had no color and the victims it took neither."
González has added that "I also want to say that we have been working on the culture of emergency since day one because we are seeing that we are approaching two years and we are still the same" and has lamented that "not even in the most affected towns has the sewage problem been solved yet."
In this sense, she has insisted that the citizens need "emergency works" and not just "reconstruction." "They are urgent, as the name itself indicates, and to this day we are demanding from all institutions, both from the left and the right, to start working in the Joint Commission," she pointed out, while denouncing that the reconstruction tasks are progressing "very slowly," "drop by drop."
Cuts in emergencies and recent fires
In relation to the fires that have affected Spain this summer, he reproached that "you have to have guts to decrease the budget by 15 percent in emergencies; you have to have little ethics and little morals to decrease the budget just a month ago with what is happening and the events we are experiencing." He assured that the associations will continue to work together "demanding reparation, justice, and truth" because "until we achieve that, we are not going to heal and people also need to heal and move forward and live peacefully."
For her part, the president of the Associació de Víctimes DANA 29 d'Octubre, Mariló Gradolí, has reiterated that "almost two years later we are still demanding truth, justice, and reparation" and has indicated that they join the "indignation" of the "Valencian people" against the Consell and the City Council of València for the "lack of foresight" and "poor performance," as well as for the "negligent action" referring to the fire declared this Thursday in El Saler and that of the Sierra Calderona. "It makes us doubt --she asserted-- regarding the foresight and how they can act in the face of new rains in the month of October."
"We continue to demand that the immunity not be applied to Carlos Mazón because the rights of the victims must be above a procedural guarantee such as regional immunity. We ask that the immunity not be applied to Carlos Mazón," she reiterated.
Gradolí has also criticized that Mazón "is still a deputy, has been rewarded, and if he continues with the immunity, it is because he has the support of two parties, which are the Partido Popular and Vox." In her opinion, "if those two parties decided to be brave and remove or ask for Carlos Mazón's seat, he could be called to testify as a witness, as an accused, as the judge decides, but he would be in a position to go to court as the judge sees fit."