Lorraine Williamson
The Mazón Feijóo DANA WhatsApp trail has landed back at the centre of Spain’s flood debate, not because it changes what happened on the ground, but because it sharpens the questions that still hang over decision-making on the night Valencia drowned. A notarial record of messages exchanged on 29 October 2024 — the day the DANA floods killed 230 people — is now part of the court file in Catarroja, and it is already fuelling new accusations, fresh defensiveness, and a growing public demand for clarity.
At issue is not just the content of the WhatsApps, but what they imply about timelines: when key figures understood the scale of the catastrophe, how quickly warnings reached the public, and what help was — or wasn’t — available as towns across the province struggled to cope.
The messages: three hours, a missed call, and a darker tone
According to the documentation described by Spanish media, the exchange begins with Mazón replying at 8.08 pm with a brief “Gracias Presi”, after Feijóo messages at 7.59 pm. Three minutes later, the first ES-Alert warning was sent to the public, a detail that has become central to the argument about whether official warnings arrived too late for many of those in danger.
Over the next three hours, the messages sketch a leader overwhelmed by fragmentary information: reports of missing people, villages cut off, and fear spreading faster than reliable updates. There is also a missed call, placed so Mazón could try to obtain the contact details for Telefónica’s president amid widespread communications failure in the affected area.
One of the most politically explosive lines comes later in the night, when Mazón tells Feijóo that bodies are already appearing in Utiel — despite later statements, reported in the same coverage, that suggested he only became aware of deaths in the early hours.
“From minute one”: Defence steps in over the UME
The row has widened beyond party politics because Spain’s Ministry of Defence has now entered the argument directly.
In a statement reported on 26 December 2025, Defence called on both Feijóo and Mazón to issue public apologies, arguing that the WhatsApps show the Unidad Militar de Emergencias (UME) was available “desde el minuto uno” — and that the messages contradict later claims that the state failed to deploy resources quickly enough.
This matters because the UME is often treated as the line between a bad emergency and a national trauma: highly trained, fast-moving and built for disasters that overwhelm local capacity. When its role becomes a political weapon, the country’s wider trust in emergency coordination can take a hit — and the families who lost people in the floods are left watching leaders argue over narratives instead of learning lessons.
Valencia’s government refuses to be drawn — then points at Madrid
Valencia’s regional government has largely tried to avoid commenting on the substance of the messages.
In remarks reported by El País, spokesperson Miguel Barrachina said he would not comment on judicial steps or court orders. But he criticised the Valencian Socialists (PSPV-PSOE) for pressing to see the full conversation, and suggested they were more interested in tracking “where everyone was every minute” than focusing on those with direct responsibility.
Barrachina also used the moment to accuse national PSOE figures of being absent on the day — an attempt to shift the political focus away from the Generalitat and towards Madrid. It is a familiar tactic in disasters: responsibility becomes a moving target, while the practical questions (what failed, what worked, what must change) struggle to stay in frame.
The key date now: 9 January 2026, in a court outside Valencia
The immediate next step is judicial, not parliamentary.
Feijóo is due to testify as a witness on 9 January 2026 at 9.30 am in the Catarroja courts, after a request linked to the victims’ association involved in the case. He has asked to appear remotely.
The judge’s interest, as described in earlier reporting, is straightforward: Feijóo publicly claimed he was being kept informed “in real time”. If those claims helped shape the political narrative after the floods, the court will want to know what information he actually received, when it arrived, and whether it matches the timeline now under scrutiny.
Why the WhatsApps now matter beyond the messages
Spain’s DANA events — the intense “cold drop” weather patterns that can dump extraordinary rainfall in a short time — are not new. What has changed is the risk profile: more people living in flood-prone areas, more sealed surfaces in expanding towns, and a climate trend that many experts link to more extreme downpours. In that context, the mechanics of warnings and command structures matter as much as heroics on the ground.
The ES-Alert system is designed to cut through confusion. But it only works if the decision to trigger it is made in time, and if the chain of command is clear enough that nobody hesitates while water rises. That is why a handful of timestamps — 7.59 pm, 8.08 pm, 8.11 pm — now carry the weight of an argument about institutional competence and public safety.
Journalist speaks out on Mazón lunch amid Valencia DANA tragedy
What families are really asking for
Political leaders can trade accusations for months. Courts move more slowly and often more quietly. But the public mood in Valencia has been shaped by something simpler: people want straight answers, delivered without spin.
If the WhatsApps end up clarifying even one crucial decision point — who knew what, and when — they could still serve a purpose beyond the headlines. The test will be whether January brings more defensiveness, or the first serious push for reforms that make the next extreme-weather alert faster, clearer and harder to delay.
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