In Valencia, the investigation continues into the tragedy caused by a powerful downpour that claimed hundreds of lives. Judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra, who is overseeing the criminal case related to the day of the disaster, has decided to summon Alberto Núñez Feijóo to testify. He will be asked to give detailed accounts of his communications with Carlos Mazón during the critical hours when the storm hit the region.
At the same time, the judge rejected a petition to call Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez as a witness. Investigators believe that his involvement was not as direct as that of other parties in the case. The key argument was that Sánchez’s message to Mazón was sent only after the main decisions regarding the emergency response had already been made.
Feijóo’s role
Particular attention from investigators is focused on Feijóo, since, according to his own statements, he was receiving real-time updates on the situation from Mazón. The judge has requested that Feijóo voluntarily submit, within five days, a list of all calls, messages, emails, and messenger correspondence he received from Mazón on the day of the tragedy. This should help reconstruct the timeline of events and clarify how decisions were made during the height of the crisis.
Case files indicate that the emergency warning via the Es-Alert system was sent out at 20:11, by which time most of the victims had already died. Investigators believe that analyzing messages sent later will not help determine exactly how the situation unfolded during the most critical moments.
Denial of Sanchez’s Interrogation
The judge specifically emphasized that there is a fundamental difference between the actions of Sanchez and Feijóo. While Feijóo was aware of the situation thanks to direct contact with Mazón, Sanchez had no such information. Therefore, his interrogation is not considered necessary to clarify the circumstances of the tragedy.
The court also denied a request to summon staff from the Palau de la Generalitat Valenciana. According to the judge, it is unlikely that they could have heard or known anything significant about the decision-making that day, since Mazón spent very little time in the building.
Searching for digital traces
As part of the investigation, the judge sent a request to the Directorate of Information Technologies and Communications of the Generalitat Valenciana. Investigators need to determine whether it is possible to recover WhatsApp correspondence between former chief of staff José Manuel Cuenca and Mazón from the work phone Cuenca changed in the summer of 2025.
Cuenca has already testified twice in this case. He maintains that he did not give any instructions to the then Minister of Internal Affairs, Salomé Pradas, despite the fact that the case materials mention messages urging calm and advising against imposing restrictions. Cuenca refused to provide his mobile phone, citing his right to privacy, and stated that all messages with Mazón were lost when he changed devices and had no backups.
Investigation details
In a second ruling, the judge rejected the private prosecution’s appeal demanding that government palace staff be questioned. The court considered that they had no opportunity to learn the details of how the emergency was managed, as Mazón was only in the building for a very short time.
Investigators are continuing to analyze all possible digital traces to reconstruct a complete picture of the events. Special attention is being paid to messages and calls between key figures in the case, as well as the actions of officials in the first hours after the catastrophe began.
