Maribel Vilaplana, the journalist who lunched with Carlos Mazón during the October 2024 flood, retrieved her car from a central Valencia parking lot at 19:47, just 24 minutes before the Generalitat's mass alert. This detail, revealed in the judicial investigation, confirms changes in her testimonies and raises questions about the president's movements that day. The Catarroja judge is examining these facts in the context of the tragedy that killed 229 people.
On October 29, 2024, the day of the flood that caused 229 deaths in Valencia, Maribel Vilaplana paid 15.10 euros for parking her car in a garage at Plaza de Tetuán, managed by Interparking Hispania S.A. The payment indicates she left the vehicle around 14:45, about 15 minutes before arriving at El Ventorro restaurant, where she lunched for nearly four hours with President Carlos Mazón.
After the meal and a walk through the center, Vilaplana left the restaurant around 18:45, according to her testimony to Judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra on November 3. They walked five or ten minutes to the parking lot, chatted about football, and Mazón made a call. Ten or fifteen minutes after saying goodbye, she entered alone, paid, and retrieved the car at 19:47. This exit occurred four minutes after Mazón returned a call to Councilor Salomé Pradas at 19:43, having missed two earlier ones at 19:10 and 19:36.
The Generalitat's mass alert reached mobiles at 20:11, by which time many victims had already died. The judge believes an earlier alert could have saved lives. Mazón arrived at the Palau de la Generalitat just before 20:00 and at the Cecopi at 20:28.
Vilaplana has changed her account three times: initially saying goodbye at 17:45, then 18:45, and finally that Mazón accompanied her to the parking lot. Mazón has also varied his timeline: from 17:00 to 18:00 to reach the Palau, and 'after 19:00' to Cecopi, confirmed by an image at 20:28.
The newspaper Levante, citing PP sources, claims Vilaplana drove Mazón by car to near the Palau around 20:00, contradicting her testimony of parting at the parking lot and Mazón's version of walking. Her entourage denies it and refers to the judicial statement. The judge has offered Mazón three times to testify as investigated, but as a protected official, it requires the TSJCV.