The session will open with the highest representative of the central government in the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabé, who already appeared before the judge investigating the criminal case for the deadly flood. During her judicial statement, Bernabé stated that she warned at 7:00 PM in the Cecopi about the overflow of the Poyo ravine, information she received from the mayor of Paiporta.
At that moment, the delegate asked the Minister of Justice and Interior, Salomé Pradas, to send the alert to the population (Es-Alert) and extend it to the entire province. Pradas's response was that the situation was occurring elsewhere. When the alert message was sent at 8:11 PM, the situation at Cecopi was already "chaos".
Bernabé also clarified that she had called Pradas at 12:23 PM to offer the UME (Military Emergencies Unit), but it was not requested until after 2:54 PM. In a previous call, at 2:33 PM, the delegate told the former minister: "Please ask me for the UME."
Later in the afternoon session, it will be Alberto Martín Moratilla's turn to be questioned. Last February, he recalled before the judge that, early on the day of the events, Pradas asked him for information on how the day was expected to unfold and inquired about a "delicate" location to visit "on the ground," suggesting Carlet. Later, around 2:00 PM, upon hearing about the floods in Utiel, he advised activating the Military Emergencies Unit (UME).
According to his account, Pradas proposed evacuating the villages potentially affected by the rupture of the Forata dam, which was alerted around 6:00 PM, but José Miguel Basset, former head of the Firefighters Consortium, rejected the idea. "It was proposed to notify all the mayors of the affected municipalities. The aim was to avoid panic and a stampede," he said.
Regarding Es-Alert, he explained that it was not discussed until 7:00 PM, that Pradas approved the final text, and that both she and Carlos Mazón, upon joining after Cecopi, "only said OK to what the technicians said".
