Valencian Generalitat president Carlos Mazón has negotiated his exit with PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo following backlash over DANA flood management. He is set to announce details on Monday in a public appearance. The deal rules out early elections and plans a provisional president negotiated with Vox.
The crisis in the Valencian PP escalated after the state funeral for the 229 victims of the October 29, 2024 DANA floods, where Mazón was heckled and insulted in the presence of the King and Feijóo. The Valencian baron, questioned over an unaccounted hour in his itinerary on the day of the tragedy—during which 80 people died—spent the weekend in Alicante deliberating with his close team.
Negotiations with Génova began on Friday, when the PPCV leadership—including provincial presidents Vicent Mompó, Marta Barrachina, and Toni Pérez, and secretary general Juanfran Pérez Llorca—backed Mompó as successor for 2027. However, Génova favors Valencia mayor María José Catalá or Pérez Llorca as transitional figure, given his ties to Vox. PP sources say Mazón sped up his exit to preserve his immunity, fearing judicial probes.
The Sunday deal avoids early elections, seen as "political suicide" due to left-wing mobilization risks and Vox gains. Instead, Mazón will resign, and the PP will negotiate with Vox to invest a provisional deputy until 2027, with Pérez Llorca as frontrunner. "Mazón's situation was untenable," popular sources state. Former president Francisco Camps also positions himself, adding internal friction.
On Monday, alongside Mazón's appearance, journalist Maribel Vilaplana will testify before the Catarroja judge about her dinner with the president during the DANA. The opposition, led by PSOE's Diana Morant, demands elections and slams Mazón's "lies": "The only way out is democracy".
The PP fears the crisis will overshadow the Attorney General's trial and disrupt the electoral cycle in regions like Extremadura, Castile and León, and Andalusia. Leaders bemoan the "weekend farce," with complaints like: "How did we get here?" and "What a farce."
