Thousands took to the streets of Valencia on Saturday demanding that former Generalitat president Carlos Mazón lose his immunity as a deputy and be held accountable for the DANA floods management in October 2024. The protest, under the slogan 'Mazón a presó', follows recent court rulings rejecting his investigation but summoning him as a witness. Victims' associations vow to continue their fight for 'truth, justice and reparation'.
A demonstration called by over 200 social, civic, union entities, DANA victims' associations, Local Emergency and Reconstruction Committees (CLER), and Acord Social Valencià (ASV) marched through central Valencia on Saturday. It started at 6 p.m. from the Ayuntamiento plaza, led by a banner reading 'Mazón a presó', and ended at Plaza de la Virgen.
Participants demand that Carlos Mazón, former Generalitat president, surrender his deputy seat in Les Corts Valencianes, lose his immunity, and testify in the Catarroja court investigating the October 29, 2024 DANA catastrophe management, which caused at least 230 deaths. They have protested for 17 months against Mazón and his Consell's "negligence", which they say turned a natural disaster into a human one, achieving his resignation in November 2025 but not the loss of privileges.
The Tribunal Superior de Justicia de la Comunitat Valenciana (TSJCV) rejected investigating Mazón unanimously on March 16, finding no specific crime or Es Alert involvement, though deeming his conduct "reprobable" socially and politically. On March 24, the judge from Catarroja's Juzgado de Plaza número 3 summoned him as a witness and requested voluntary submission of call logs and WhatsApp messages from the DANA day.
Mariló Gradolí, president of Asociación Víctimas de la Dana 29 d'Octubre 2024, called the TSJCV ruling "shameful" and asked: "If the Generalitat president is not responsible, who is?". Rosa Álvarez, from Asociación de Víctimas Mortales DANA, voiced "perplexity" and stressed: "Fight, fight and fight". Elizabeth González, vice president of Asociación de Damnificados Dana-L'Horta Sud, said they would go "to Europe if necessary".
Chants included 'No son muertos, son asesinados' and posters like 'Mazón a prisión, Consell dimisión'. The manifesto rejected a "half resignation" and policies ignoring climate change.
