Almost a year and a half after the DANA and numerous statements from witnesses, affected parties, experts, and those under investigation, the judicial inquiry is progressing with the summoning of mayors. The Catarroja Court, which has nearly thirty municipal officials awaiting their appearance date, has scheduled the first testimony for May 7, with the popular Ricardo Gabaldón leading the way.
Gabaldón will be the first of a total of 27 mayors to pass through the court, including figures such as María José Catalá of València, Lorena Sirvent of Catarroja, and Josep Francesc Cabanes of Sedaví. Utiel was one of the municipalities most affected by the flood, recording six fatalities. However, the judge dismissed the charges against Gabaldón, requested by a family, highlighting his swift reaction in ordering the closure of schools, a measure that went “far beyond the advice not to approach the riverbanks and rivers” from the Generalitat.
There is a radical difference between Local and Autonomous Administration regarding issuing alerts to the population. The indiscriminate attribution of criminal responsibility for deaths to any public authority or official, especially local authorities, must be flatly dismissed.
The judge has argued that municipal officials “were caught by surprise, did not receive precise information, nor were they specifically advised on the measures to adopt,” unlike the Generalitat, which had “multiple channels of information.” This distinction underscores the complexity of emergency management and the distribution of responsibilities among different administrative levels.
One of the points of interest in the investigation is the communication between Gabaldón and the then president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón. According to the telephone record provided by Salomé Pradas, there were thirteen calls between the mayor of Utiel and the counselor, eight of which were canceled or failed. Following Gabaldón's warning about the difficult situation in Utiel at 2 PM, and after speaking with the government delegate, Pilar Bernabé, the counselor requested the mobilization of the Military Emergency Unit (UME).
Curiously, Mazón asked the president of the Diputación, Vicent Mompó, for the numbers of the mayors of Utiel and Cullera at 5:46 PM, during a lunch with journalist Maribel Vilaplana. By then, five hours had passed since the overflow of the Magro and more than two since the activation of the UME. Although Mazón hinted at having spoken with Gabaldón, the list provided to Les Corts Valencianes does not record any direct call.
