Restaurant Owner Testifies in Mazón's Disaster Case

The restaurant owner appeared at the Catarroja courthouse at 9:15 AM for a deposition where he is obligated to tell the truth. The judge overseeing a criminal case for alleged negligent homicide and injuries ordered his appearance after Vilaplana, during her testimony on November 3rd, stated that the owner of the establishment was the only person who entered and left the private room where she and Mazón were having lunch. The acting President of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, dined at the central establishment for almost four hours—from 3:00 PM to 6:45 PM—on that tragic day with journalist Maribel Vilaplana. The journalist also recounted that at the beginning of the meeting, the restaurant owner handed some documents to the president and remained in the room until they were returned signed. As reported by ABC, it was an employee of the Palau de la Generalitat who delivered the documents to the restaurant. It concerned a resolution on elite athletes that had been published incompletely that morning in the Official Diary of the Generalitat Valenciana (DOGV), and it was urgent to publish the list that had been omitted by error. The judge has requested the journalist who dined with Mazón to provide the details of the card used to pay for parking. The investigator believes the witness may have overheard a phone conversation between Mazón and the former councilor for emergencies, Salome Pradas, who is under investigation, regarding the measures being agreed upon with her command from 5:00 PM at the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi), the body directing the crisis. The owner of the El Ventorro restaurant in Valencia is testifying today before the judge investigating the management of the catastrophic disaster of October 29, 2024. The case is focused on the decision-making process and the late sending of the ES-Alert at 8:11 PM.