The University of Valencia (UV) sent a statement to all its students on Monday afternoon, October 28, one day before the episode of torrential rains that overflowed the Poyo ravine, causing more than 200 deaths, announcing the suspension of classes due to the forecast of heavy rain. During the morning of the fateful Tuesday the 29th, after the red notice announced by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), at 7:36 a.m., it was agreed to suspend all teaching, administrative, research and cultural activity on all campuses and university facilities.
The measure, which in view of the severity of the floods avoided putting at risk the integrity of 50,000 students, 3,000 technical staff, administration and support services workers and more than 5,000 teachers, did not please the president of the Valencian Government, Carlos Mazón. .
As reported by elDiario.es, after the event at the Palau de la Generalitat in which the head of the Consell, around 1:00 p.m., stated that the storm was moving towards the Serranía de Cuenca and that it would lose strength at 6:00 p.m. hours, he met with representatives of the Business Confederation of the Valencian Community (CEV), UGT and CCOO to talk about the regional budgets, meeting before lunch with the journalist Maribel Vilaplana in which he offered her the direction of À Punt .
In addition to Mazón, the Vice President and Minister of Social Services, Equality and Housing, Susana Camarero, and the Minister of Economy, Finance and Public Function, Ruth Merino, were also present on behalf of the Valencian Government. On the part of the CEV was its president, Salvador Navarro, and on the part of the unions were its general secretaries, Ismael Sáez (UGT-PV) and Ana García (CCOO-PV). The meeting was scheduled for 1:30 p.m., but it started after 1:45 p.m.
Eyewitnesses of the meeting with employers and unions have confirmed to this newspaper that Mazón was upset with the suspension of classes and activities decreed by the management of the University, considering it exaggerated. This was conveyed to those present in an informal talk before addressing the details of the regional accounts. And this despite the fact that at that time the Aemet red notice was fully in force and the hydrological alert had already been launched after the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation (CHJ) reported the overflow of the Poyo ravine, a warning that occurred at 12:20 p.m. . Mazón left the meeting shortly before 2:30 p.m. and it ended a few minutes later. From that meeting he went directly to the Ventorro restaurant, a five-minute walk from the Palau de la Generalitat, for the “private work” lunch with the journalist.
While the UV took preventive measures the day before the tragedy, as did some individual mayors in their respective municipalities where they also suspended classes, the Generalitat Valenciana took 12 and a half hours from Aemet’s notice to launch the alerted the population’s cell phones, when thousands of people were already trapped. For example, at the Levante International School in Chiva, students and teachers were surprised by the storm and spent the night in the center because of the flooding. The Valencia Provincial Council sent its workers home at noon on October 29 and at 2 p.m. it closed its work centers not linked to emergencies.
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