Overview
- The investigating judge rejected arguments about a needed national emergency, ruled the Generalitat had the tools to protect the public, and ordered several regional departments to hand over records of cooperation requests from the day of the disaster.
- Court filings highlight that Aemet had issued top-tier warnings and that the Es-Alert mass message was sent at 20:11 on October 29, 2024, by which time many victims had already died.
- Ex-emergencies director Alberto Martín Moratilla testified he urged consellera Salomé Pradas around 14:00 to declare level 2 and call in the UME, said the Cecopi focused on Utiel until the Forata dam scare at about 18:00, and maintained Es-Alert was not discussed until roughly 19:00 before Pradas approved a 20:11 send.
- Moratilla said Pradas proposed evacuations over the Forata risk but that they were dropped to avoid panic and for lack of time, while other officials, including Jorge Suárez and José Miguel Basset, have told the court the option of an Es-Alert was raised from the start of the Cecopi meeting.
- Transcripts show Basset described Carlos Mazón as acting like the regional president in the Cecopi without a formal handover and recounted drafting stricter Es-Alert text that was later softened, as a separate Guardia Civil report alleging copied Aemet–112 audio was denied by Moratilla.