Feijóo mediates with the victims of the Dana and avoids questioning Mazón

The president of the People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, yesterday met with two associations of flood victims, aware that at least one of them would harshly question Carlos Mazón's handling of the terrible flood that caused the deaths of 228 people.

This is what the Association of Victims of the Dana-Horta Sud (South Dana-Horta) did, even raising the possibility of dismissing the president of the Generalitat. Feijóo, according to the version of those affected, responded by pointing out that Mazón was elected by the Valencian Parliament and that he has no authority to remove him; he also endorsed the continuation of his regional leader.

Throughout the meeting, the Galician leader responded to criticisms from the victims regarding the state of the schools and the mental health problems of the residents of the Dana, using data provided by the Valencian Government. This demonstrates the harmony between the PP leadership and the Valencian People's Party government.

The other organization that visited the headquarters on Génova Street, SOS Desaparecidos, had already been received by the Valencian president at the Palau de la Generalitat (Generalitat Palace), something that did not occur with the Horta Sud headquarters. SOS Desaparecidos, which is acting as one of the private prosecutors in the legal case, stated yesterday simply that "this is not the time" to demand Mazón's resignation or to "paralyze the reconstruction" of the Valencian municipalities affected by the catastrophe, but rather to "let justice do its work."

Feijóo defends Mazón's continued presence in the face of demands for his dismissal from an organization.

Be that as it may, the PP leader, who received representatives of the two organizations in his office on Génova Street, weathered the storm and offered to mediate to strengthen coordination between administrations, in order to ensure an orderly and effective reconstruction.

According to those affected, the PP president promised to contact the Valencian Government to try to get it to negotiate a single joint recovery plan with the government, instead of two parallel plans.

The PP indicated that Feijóo also agreed with the associations that these coordination mechanisms serve to draw lessons from what happened, correct mistakes, and prevent something similar from happening again.

It wasn't the only point where, without in the least disavowing Mazón, the president of the Popular Party acknowledged that things could have been done differently.

The PP leader encourages the most critical to meet with the Valencian president.

According to the PP in a statement, Feijóo reminded these organizations that he had requested from the Spanish government "the declaration of a national emergency, which the Sánchez administration renounced from day one, despite having all the resources that would have improved the coordination and effectiveness of the response in the first hours of the catastrophe."

The president of the Association of Victims, Christian Lesaec, then asked him why Mazón (who was legally entitled to do so) didn't request the emergency declaration, to which Feijóo, according to this Ground Zero resident, replied, "That's a good question." However, Lesaec himself explained to La Vanguardia that Feijóo defended Mazón and tried to slam the central government's actions.

Acting as mediator, the leader of the Popular Party (PP) also encouraged the most critical organization to meet with the head of the Consell. They pointed out that this meeting was not possible because one of the conditions the association had imposed on the Valencian leader was that the chambers would have to be present at the meeting. Feijóo felt Mazón could not accept this requirement.

With his move yesterday, Feijóo is trying to bridge the gap with those affected and avoid the strain that the tense relationship between Mazón and the victims could have on Valencian public opinion. However, it won't be easy, as the other two major victims' associations, who didn't even ask to meet with the PP leader, are much tougher. They believe the Valencian leader cannot continue for another minute, and not only that, but he must appear before the Catarroja court, as the judge has offered him. "Patience has its limits," they warned.

The other two major associations that were not present at the meeting are raising their voices against the head of the Consell

Just as Feijóo is trying to smooth things over, Mazón yesterday received in his office the Socialist mayor of Catarroja, the town with the second highest number of deaths in the tragedy. The president of the Valencian People's Party (PP) is trying to restore some normalcy to his schedule, aware of the support he still receives from his party, which seems more focused on a possible election than on opening succession debates in key regions to secure his arrival at the Moncloa Palace.