Valencia flood victims stage first Alicante protest demanding prison for Carlos Mazón

Demonstration outside the regional seat

Several hundred demonstrators gathered at 18:00 on Saturday outside the Casa de las Brujas in Alicante, marking the first time flood victim associations have moved their monthly protest outside Valencia province. Organised by three victim groups alongside more than 200 civic, social, and trade union organisations, the rally targeted former regional president Carlos Mazón 23 months after the 29 October 2024 disaster that killed 232 people. Protesters assembled roughly 600 metres from Mazón's official ex-president office, displaying black ribbons alongside banners reading "Mazón a presó", "Ni olvido ni perdón", and images depicting the politician in prison garb. Representatives from left-wing political groups, including PSPV-PSOE, Compromís, and EU-Podem, attended the peaceful demonstration.

Platform co-spokesperson Anna Oliver addressed the decision to bring the monthly protest directly to Mazón's home city.

There will not be a place in the world to hide from his ignominy.

Demands for legal accountability

The three main groups, Damnificats per la DANA de l'Horta Sud, Víctimes de la DANA 29 d'Octubre de 2024, and Víctimes Mortals de la DANA 29-O, demanded that Mazón lose the legal immunity tied to his seat in the Corts Valencianes. Stripping this protection would require him to testify before the magistrate leading the judicial investigation in Catarroja. During the demonstration, attendees read 23 specific declarations, one for each month since the disaster. These statements asserted that the deaths were avoidable, criticised Mazón for attending a lunch despite early weather warnings from state meteorologists at AEMET, and recalled that the EsAlert warning reached phones at 20:11 when flooding was already catastrophic.

The declarations also noted that two people remain missing and criticised regional successor Juanfran Pérez Llorca and People's Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo for defending the former leader. Rosa Álvarez, president of Víctimes Mortals de la DANA 29-O, warned against any future maneuver to appoint Mazón as a territorial senator.

Alicante is not Carlos Mazón and Carlos Mazón is not Alicante.

Parliamentary hearings and disaster prevention

Saturday's event followed a demonstration on Monday outside the Congress of Deputies in Madrid, where victim representatives, including spokesperson Mariló Gradolí, travelled to confront Mazón during his appearance before the parliamentary inquiry committee. During that session, Mazón declined to answer most questions from lawmakers, maintaining that judicial bodies had previously declined to investigate him directly. The ongoing judicial investigation into the regional response continues to examine other senior officials, including former emergency secretary Emilio Argüeso and former interior minister Salomé Pradas.

Beyond individual criminal liability, the convening groups, including the Local Emergency and Reconstruction Committees and the Valencian Social Agreement, called for structural flood prevention. Representatives stated that towns across Valencia devastated during the 2024 disaster still lack the infrastructure and civil protection systems needed to withstand future extreme weather.