The testimony of Maribel Vilaplana is essential in the case investigating the handling of the DANA storm in the Catarroja court. She was the person who accompanied President Carlos Mazón throughout the afternoon during a long lunch at Ventorro and can shed light on what the head of the Consell knew about the emergency and what the Cecopi (Provincial Emergency Coordination Center) was telling him from 5:00 p.m. until the lunch ended at 6:45 p.m., a time she confirms, and they separated in the parking lot. According to her testimony, the head of the Consell did not appear worried at any point during the afternoon. It was in the early hours of the morning, when they spoke about the DANA storm."He told me, 'This is very serious, very grave,' and that he knew nothing about it during the lunch."
It wasn't an easy experience for the journalist. She cried several times and even confessed that she had been extorted by"very serious newspapers" with alleged images of her leaving the president's house, which prompted the judge to console her in a peculiar way:"The responsibility for your being there at that time lies with Mr. Mazón. You hold no position of authority."
Vilaplana arrived at the courthouse at 9:00 a.m., half an hour before her scheduled appearance, where she was confronted by a relative of a deceased woman."Tell the truth. For her sake," he shouted, showing her a photograph of his mother. For a few minutes, the journalist, accompanied by a friend, appeared visibly shaken by the situation.
The first thing the communications expert admitted to the judge was that she has neither friendship nor enmity with any of the defendants and that she could not comply with Judge Ruiz Tobarra's request to provide the parking ticket to determine the exact time they separated. However, she acknowledged that she paid by card and gave permission to request all the necessary information from the parking management company.
The journalist recounted that it was a"professional lunch" at Mazón's initiative and that they met at the restaurant "around 3 p.m.", in a private room upstairs where they were alone, but the restaurant manager came in with some documents that Mazón signed."It was a large envelope, containing documents that he read and signed." The president was on his mobile phone the entire time, communicating with others, and in a"relaxed" mood.
Regarding the calls, Vilaplana wasn't very precise. She doesn't remember if the president's cell phone rang, but she does recall that he answered messages and calls, moving to another part of the room, without leaving it, to talk, but he didn't relay the content to her afterward."He never tells me anything, nor do I hear words like 'DANA,' 'CECOPI,' or 'rain.' I don't hear anything, and he doesn't tell me anything about those calls either. I get the impression that I hear him speak very little. He seems to be listening more than speaking; the only allusion I remember is 'it's because of the photo,'" the journalist stated, unable to specify what Mazón meant by the comment,"always something about the photo or something like that."
Later, in response to questions from the prosecution, she stated that the"intensity of the calls" increased after lunch, around 5:30 p.m., when they were working on one of his speeches."He was absent more frequently, and every time he came back he would say, 'Let's continue.' That's when I noticed the calls were more frequent," she explained without alarm because, according to her testimony, she is used to working with directors who take calls and don't ask questions. She later clarified that they were reviewing the speech on their phones, and she doesn't see the notification windows for calls or WhatsApp messages, but she doesn't recall if Mazón was carrying two phones.
The judge inquired whether the president made any reference to the emergency upon arriving at the luncheon or whether he had advised her on emergency communications, something she denied. But above all, she questioned her about the video she received on her mobile phone showing the flooded streets of Utiel, which, according to the newspaper Levante-EMV, she showed to the president at 5:40 p.m. At that moment, the journalist broke down.
She explained that she received it through a family chat,"with the two most important people in the world," referring to her children, and showed the judge a link to a headline from À Punt, which she received at 5:39 p.m. and to which she responded with a surprised face emoji at 5:45 p.m."That person is always sending news. I keep my phone put away and only take it out when the president has separated. I don't open the link, and it torments me that I didn't open that tweet, because if I had seen it, I would have said, 'Wow.' But I don't open it," she insisted. However, when asked again if she discussed the link in the family chat with Mazón, she admitted that she didn't remember precisely, and that she thought he wasn't at the table when she looked at the link.
Vilaplana recounted the psychological burden she has carried since October 29th."Everything I do is twisted, manipulated, and it's incredibly hard. I lost a friend in the storm, but I couldn't go to the funeral. Someday I'll be able to breathe, stop having nightmares. You don't know how much it hurts me that the victims think I might play the victim. I can't forgive myself," she explained, while admitting that she hasn't stopped wondering"why Mr. Mazón was able to carry on as if nothing had happened," why he didn't speak to her, and why he continued at the meal as if nothing had happened.
Mazón's yellow jersey
The Public Prosecutor's Office waived the questioning, but not the private accusations, who insisted on refining the chronology of the meeting and even how the president was dressed, something that the judge considered pertinent because it could determine if Mazón went to any other place from 6:45 p.m. when he accompanied her to the parking lot until he arrived at the Palau at around 8:00 p.m. and at the Cecopi at 8:28 p.m.
He left the Palau wearing a suit on his way to Ventorro and arrived at the Cecopi wearing a yellow sweater, something Vilaplana explained."He said to me, 'Do you mind if I take off my jacket?' And he put on the sweater," the journalist said,"which he took out of a backpack he was carrying." As for his walk to the parking lot, after 6:30 p.m., it was"a normal walk" during which Mazón didn't say anything to him.
Regarding what they discussed at lunch, the former presenter confirmed that they talked about the regional television station À Punt, to which he offered her a position, which she declined."He told me I could be a good candidate, but I told him I don't know how to manage," she stated. Then, according to her testimony, he asked for her opinion, and they discussed"the name change, bringing back former presenters, and the language." It was then that Mazón confessed to her that he didn't feel comfortable giving speeches in Valencian, and she offered him"unofficial advice," although she declined the offer to provide training for senior officials "because I would lose clients. It would be shooting myself in the foot."
"Seasonal food and a bottle of wine"
Vilaplana said that they didn't choose the menu, but that dishes were brought up to them"with seasonal things and a bottle of wine," but that "there were no glasses," and that their intention was to pay the bill but he said no,"that's it."
Vilaplana confirmed that the meeting ended at 6:45 p.m. because Mazón decided so."Look, if you like, we can leave it at that," he told her. Although"we did linger a bit longer, because we chatted for a while. I was very keen for him to come to a football match, because I also work for Levante UD," explained the journalist, who is a spokesperson for the club's board of directors.
During this time, he had no knowledge of Mazón calling the mayor of Cullera, insisting that he was unaware throughout the afternoon of who the president spoke to and the content of the calls.
What she did admit was contacting the president in the early hours of the morning, when the full extent of the tragedy was already known."I asked him what had happened. He told me, 'This is very serious, very grave,' and that he didn't know anything during lunch." Then she asked him not to use her name: "She was a coward," she said before bursting into tears. Two days later, Mazón called her again and apologized, saying that she would have to give her name and that they should stop contacting each other. That's when she deleted Mazón's number.
