More information about President Carlos Mazón's 853-euro meal in a luxurious restaurant, paid for twice: with public money from the Generalitat and in cash. The L'Escaleta restaurant in Cocentaina (Alicante), an establishment recognized with two Michelin stars and three Repsol soles, alerted the Generalitat that the same payment had been paid twice for the agape held on November 1, 2023, after an official visit to the town and on the occasion of the celebration of the Saint of Mazón, according to what the president said in parliament when asked by the opposition. An email from the company, to which elDiario.es has had access, alerted the president's secretary on June 11, 2024 that it had received a transfer from the Generalitat for an amount of 853.78 euros. The administration department of the well-known restaurant owned by chef Kiko Moya detected that the amount coincided with an invoice paid “in cash” by the diners who attended the meal.
“Consequently, given that an error has occurred in the processing of the payment paid by the Generalitat Valenciana, I ask you to tell us to which current account we should transfer the aforementioned amount received,” requested the L'Escaleta restaurant. The company paid the 854 euros to the Generalitat three days after sending the 'e-mail' (June 14, 2024), according to the transfer receipt.
But in reality, as the owner of l'Escaleta explained to elDiario.es when the scandal broke, Mazón initially told the restaurant that the meal would be paid for by the Generalitat. That's why the restaurant issued the bill. The problem is that, halfway through, the Presidency realized the inconvenience of charging the public treasury for this meal and it was the secretary of the president of the Generalitat herself who went in person to l'Escaleta to satisfy the debt.
Thus, the invoice process continued and the restaurant ended up being paid, which, with an attitude of great honesty, returned the money having already collected it in cash through Mazón's secretary. 853 euros in banknotes, a fairly important but legal amount, as it does not exceed 1,000 euros.
Another document from the Generalitat, to which this newspaper has also had access, listed on March 26, 2024, the chef's company as a supplier and the president's cabinet as the processing unit for fixed cash expenses, with invoice number 1,982 (dated November 1, 2023). The type of invoice was “original” and the amount was 853.78 euros. That is, before the restaurant detected the mistake, the invoice had been endorsed to the Presidency's fixed cash register.
Four diners attended the agape (including Mazón and his wife). The document details the unit price of each menu (168.19 euros); of the two bottles of wine (48.7 euros each), and another supplement of six euros of which the concept is not detailed, but which could be a service of bread or water.
After the restaurant returned the money, having been charged for the same meal twice (in cash and by transfer from the Generalitat), the fixed cash register detailed by the regional transparency portal 'GVA Oberta' recorded an unusual figure of “-853.78 euros”, which put this editorial team on the trail of Carlos Mazón's striking expenditure in the luxurious Cocentaina establishment.
Invoice “issued in error”, according to the Presidency
This negative amount “does not reflect a payment with fixed cash funds,” says Santiago Lumbreras, regional secretary of Institutional Relations and Transparency, in a parliamentary response to Compromís.
It was, according to the version of the senior Presidency official, a “refund made by the supplying company after verifying that the corresponding invoice had been issued in error and the corresponding bank transfer in favor of the Generalitat.”
The head of the Consell stated on July 3, when asked by the Ombudsman of Compromís, Joan Baldoví: “I pay for my meals for my saint.”