Valencia mayor testifies she had no political contact during DANA emergency and was never told about the mass alert
María José Catalá told a judge she first spoke to former regional president Carlos Mazón at 23:13 via WhatsApp, hours after flooding began, and that nobody informed her the ES-Alert was being prepared.
Testimony in Catarroja
Valencia mayor María José Catalá appeared as a witness on 8 July 2026 before the judge investigating the management of the catastrophic DANA that struck on 29 October 2024, killing 230 people across the province of Valencia. She entered the courthouse in Catarroja through the garage, avoiding the media gathered at the main entrance.
Catalá stated that during the critical hours of the flooding she had no political contact whatsoever. Her first exchange with former Generalitat president Carlos Mazón came at 23:13 that night, via WhatsApp.
Ok, this is horrible.
She did not speak to him again until 2:30 in the morning. Catalá also said she had no communication with then-councillor Salomé Pradas or the Government delegate Pilar Bernabé until much later.
The missing alert
Catalá insisted that nobody from the regional emergency coordination centre (Cecopi) told her that an ES-Alert mass message was being considered. The alert was eventually sent at 20:11, a delay the judge considers a major factor in the death toll. Catalá learned that the La Torre district was flooded only at 20:13, when its mayor called her.
There was no political contact.
She had been aware of water entering La Torre since around 16:00, but the full scale of the flooding became clear only after the alert went out.
Rescue operations
Catalá described how firefighters were unable to reach La Torre with their own equipment and had to use boats from the Nautical Club. Local police carried out thousands of rescues of people trapped in vehicles and homes. Buses were sent to evacuate the Pinedo neighbourhood, and rescue teams were dispatched to the A-3 motorway, outside the city limits.
From that point we were in pure and hard emergency management.
Around midnight, the fire chief warned of a possible overflow of the Turia river, but the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation said no overflow was expected. Catalá spoke with the Government delegate minutes before 1:00 to ask about the river flow.
The investigation
Two former officials are under formal investigation: ex-councillor of Justice and Interior Salomé Pradas and her former deputy Emilio Argüeso. The judge has already ruled out criminal responsibility for the mayors. Valencia was one of the few municipalities that activated its local emergency committee (Cecopal) about 20 minutes after receiving the red alert.
- Catalá speaks with Pradas and Argüeso about weather forecasts and school closures.
- First reports of water entering the La Torre district.
- ES-Alert mass message is sent to the population.
- Mayor of La Torre calls Catalá to report the area is flooded.
- First WhatsApp contact with Carlos Mazón; he writes 'Ok, this is horrible.'
- Fire chief warns of possible Turia river overflow; Júcar Confederation says no overflow expected.
- Catalá speaks with Government delegate Pilar Bernabé about the river flow.
- Catalá speaks with Mazón again for the first time since the WhatsApp message.
Other mayors, including those of Torrent and Cheste, have also testified or are scheduled to appear. The investigation continues to focus on why the mass alert was delayed and why political coordination was absent during the deadliest natural disaster in recent Spanish history.
