Mazón's former spokesperson learned about Cecopi on television and did not see the seriousness of DANA until 8 p.m.

Ruth Merino was the spokesperson for the Consell and was in charge of publicly explaining the decisions of the Valencian Government. On October 29, 2024, however, she learned from television that the Cecopi was meeting and was not aware of the seriousness of the DANA until 8:00 p.m., when the flood had already devastated numerous municipalities.

The former spokesperson has appeared as a witness before the judge of Catarroja who is investigating the management of the catastrophe, which left 231 fatalities. Her statement describes an Executive with serious coordination failures, whose members continued with their respective agendas while the emergency advanced and warnings accumulated.

According to Merino, the first time the DANA was discussed with the councilors was around 9:15 a.m. that morning, when the red alert from the State Meteorological Agency had been active since early morning. The meteorological situation was commented on in the plenary session of the Consell, but no concrete measures were approved.

A press conference with data she no longer remembers

Merino appeared before the media around 11:30 a.m. and offered generic information about the storm. Before the judge, she explained that the data reached her verbally, mainly through the then Minister of Interior, Salomé Pradas, and that her team was gathering and "merging" the documents shared in the Government chat.

The former spokesperson has not been able to remember what specific data she received or its exact origin. Nor did she explain in that appearance what was already happening in Utiel and Requena, except for a reference to the Carlet nursing home, which the Executive then considered the most relevant incident.

At 1:05 p.m., Pradas communicated in the Consell chat that a hydrological alert had been declared in the Poyo ravine and the Magro river. Merino assures that she did not speak with her about that warning and that she never had direct information about the alert affecting the channel that hours later would cause most of the destruction.

After the event she shared with Mazón, Susana Camarero, the unions and the employers' association, the then Minister of Finance returned to her department to prepare the Budgets. The president also maintained his agenda and later attended the controversial lunch and after-lunch gathering in El Ventorro. Merino did not speak with him again for the rest of the day.

From the message to "flood with data" to the information vacuum

One of the known internal messages shows Mazón asking his counselors to go out and "flood the media with data" to convey a sense of alert and tranquility to the population. Merino explained that she interpreted those words as a call for each department to report on its area.

The person responsible for offering the official version of the Government remained, however, outside the main information circuit of the emergency. No one informed her that the Integrated Operational Coordination Center had been convened, nor that Mazón had joined the meeting, nor that a mass alert to mobile phones was being prepared.

The former spokesperson learned of the existence of the Cecopi when she finished work, arrived home, and turned on the television. She received the Es-Alert sent to citizens at 8:11 PM like any other person and has stated that no one had previously warned her that Emergencies was preparing that message.

Merino also had no reliable knowledge of any fatalities until the following morning. The internal chat of her own Conselleria remained practically inactive until after 8:30 PM, as she recounted before the magistrate.

Communication depended on the Presidency

During her testimony, Merino emphasized that her role as spokesperson was limited to conveying the agreements of the Consell and that the general communication policy was controlled from the Presidency. She also denied that Mazón ordered her to offer an image of tranquility or hide information about the emergency.

Asked about the former president's message to "flood with data," she replied that she assumes he intended to keep the population informed. This explanation coexists with the communication vacuum she herself described during the hours when the Poyo ravine was rising and the Cecopi was trying to decide how to warn residents.

The former spokesperson also did not clarify whether her subsequent departure from office was related to the information management of the DANA. She stated that she does not remember what explanation she received when Mazón reshuffled the Consell and removed her as spokesperson, although she remained in charge of Finance until the next reorganization of the Executive.

The judge is now reconstructing who had information, what data circulated within the Valencian Government, and why Es-Alert took until 8:11 p.m. Merino has shown herself willing to hand over the attached files from the Consell chat, which could complete the messages already incorporated into the investigation.