Mazón becamePresident of the Valencian Government in July 2023 after forming a coalition withVox. Twelve months later, he dismissed the Vox ministers inhis government after a nationwide rupture between the parties, and continued in aminority government. He was president during the2024 Spain floods, of which the worst damage was in the Valencian Community. Due to his alleged mismanagement of the crisis,[2] along with unknown whereabouts during the first moments of it,[3][4][5] he has faced repeated calls for resignation.[6][7][8][9] Following months of protests and after receiving insults from the families of the victims during the 2025 state remembrance service,[10] on 3 November 2025 he announced his resignation as president of the Valencian Community.[11]
Born inAlicante, Mazón's father of the same name was ahaemotologist, who had a street in the city named after him. His maternal grandfather,Alfonso Guixot Guixot [es], was a businessman involved in entertainment; he owned cinemas and a bullring, and was president ofHércules CF football club.[12]
In 2003, under new Valencian presidentFrancisco Camps, Mazón led the Department of Commerce and Consumption. Four years later, following a rift in thePeople's Party of the Valencian Community (PPCV) between followers of Zaplana and Camps, he was one of the members of the former, more liberal faction that left regional politics and moved into the politics of theProvince of Alicante. He served as a councillor in the provincial capital and in the small town ofCatral, as well as being director of the Chamber of Commerce and a member of theProvincial Deputation.[13]
Mazón was elected President of the Provincial Deputation of Alicante in July 2019, receiving support fromCitizens to be the fifth consecutive PP president since 1995.[14] A year later, he received 98% of the votes to lead the PP branch in his province.[15]
In July 2021, Mazón succeededIsabel Bonig as PP leader in the Valencian Community.[16]
In the2023 Valencian regional election, his party came first with 40 seats, up from 19.[17] The PP formed a government with the 13 deputies fromVox, on the terms of the PP's national leadership that the government would exclude Vox leaderCarlos Flores, who was convicted of harassing his ex-wife in 2002.[18] The parties formed a government in July, with ten ministers – two fewer than the previous government. Seven were from the PP, and three from Vox, including vice president and Minister of Culture and SportVicente Barrera, a former bullfighter.[19] The PP-Vox government led by Mazón gave subsidies to organisations such asLo Rat Penat and theRoyal Academy of Valencian Culture that propose that theValencian language is separate toCatalan, while removing funds to organisations it accused of supportingCatalanism.[20]
In July 2024, Mazón fired his ministers from Vox and continued to govern as aminority. This followed nationwide threats by the party's leaderSantiago Abascal for Vox to resign from PP-led regional governments, as part of a dispute over migration.[21] Mazón and Barrera spoke positively of each other after the rupture.[22]
Mazón was president during theOctober 2024 Spain floods. He received criticism for having eliminated his predecessorXimo Puig's planned Valencian Emergencies Unit: a coordinating body for disaster response, conceived after similar floods in September 2019.[23][24] The government spokesman stated it was abolished in order to reduce public expenditure and increase efficiency.[25] Previously, the organisation had been criticised by the local firefighters' union as duplicating their work, before they agreed to it.[26][27]
Mazón was also criticised for having a lunch lasting several hours with a journalist on the afternoon of the disaster. He left the lunch around 6pm and arrived at the emergency command centre about 7:30pm.[28]
Mazón, prime ministerPedro Sánchez of the PSOE and KingFelipe VI of Spain were all met with hostility by locals affected by the floods. According to the BBC, Mazón blamed the national government body CHJ for allegedly issuing and retracting a flood warning, which the CHJ denied. He was accused of not calling for sufficient help from the armed forces, for which he said that it was their decision to intervene. Mazón's point on the military was disputed by Javier Marcos, head of the Military Emergency Unit (UME), who said that regional governments had to ask for support.[29][30]
On 9 November 2024, an estimated 130,000 people protested in Valencia, calling for Mazón to resign over the handling of the floods.[31] A separate rally with 1,200 members, led by theWorkers' Front, called for both Mazón and Sánchez to resign.[32]
On the first anniversary of the floods, Mazón was insulted as a "murderer" and "coward" by members of the public.[33] On 3 November 2025, he announced his resignation as regional president while keeping his seat as a deputy and therefore parliamentary immunity.[33] Instead of calling snap elections, the members of the Corts would choose the next president.[33] Mazón admitted to errors, including his schedule on the day of the disaster, but denied bad faith.[33]
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