Almeida sentences Villacís on the third anniversary of the coalition: "I aspire to govern alone"

Begoña Villacís arrives a bit late.

The deputy mayor of Madrid attends the third anniversary of the coalition government of the PP and Ciudadanos at the City Hall of the capital after 12:00.

José Luis Martínez-Almeida, meanwhile, looks at the clock out of the corner of his right eye.

The mayor talks with his mayor.

There are two black stools around the monument to Alfonso XII in the Retiro Park, one of the most visited by tourists and locals, where the only shadow is a small white shed of 40 square meters installed by City Hall employees: the place chosen for the third iconic photo of the mandate.

They are not being easy days to sunbathe in Madrid.

Nor the shade, despite the fact that the park has thousands of trees.

Finally,

all councilors stand behind their leaders with a fan in the background moving from left to right for invited journalists, councilors and advisers.

The family photo, at last, is achieved.

Villacís takes the floor:

Almudena, shut up.

Almudena Maíllo is the Tourism delegate in the City Council.

From the PP.

"The best proof of the health of a coalition government - observes Villacís - is that one can silence PP councilors and nothing happens".

If everything goes according to the Andalusian polls, the deputy mayor of the capital will be the most important figure of Ciudadanos in all of Spain next Monday.

Elections after elections - first in the Community of Madrid, then in Castilla y León and now, predictably, in Andalusia - Inés Arrimadas's party has not been able to come out afloat.

In the capital, however, Villacís would have his pike in Cibeles.

The latest published polls ―

and

― show that the people of Madrid support her management.

She would still resist the match with a small Liberal redoubt in 2023.

"I'm bad at being humble, but we have one of the most serious coalition governments in Spain," he continues.

“We are showing that liberalism works [...] It was extremely easy to agree.

We were two different political parties that continue to have their differences, but were able to reach a coalition agreement”.

During the almost 10 minutes of intervention, he only mentions Almeida once.

Before, yes, he drops some uncomfortable situations: "We have had ideological discussions in the Governing Board and we have always known how to find a way to disagree elegantly, right?"

Almeida looks at her.

Nod.

"There are no other options than [repeating in 2023] this two-color government," proclaims the deputy mayor.

The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, and the deputy mayor, Begoña Villacís, at El Retiro.

andrea commas

The mayor then receives the microphone from Villacís: “My first thanks go to the people of Madrid [...] the second goes to Begoña”.

He says that this year should be the "culmination" of a "joint" government effort.

After the staging, some councilors go to see the Retiro lake, others sit on the nearby stairs.

Others are left alone.

And the press conference begins.

The press officers of both presidents had agreed that Villacís would go first, who insists that this coalition is very strong and that Ciudadanos still has some time left.

Almeida, meanwhile, decides to sit on the steps of the monument with several of his mayors, oblivious to the words of his vice mayor.

Returning to the microphone, alone, he goes with everything.

No future coalitions.

"The only thing I can say is that, of course, I aspire to govern alone with the PP in 2023."

Villacís does not listen to these words either.

Most of the Ciudadanos councilors are scattered around the park.

They find out later, through advisers and journalists.

“It was disrespectful to say this,” one of them complains later on the phone.

Him “He had a face with us during his speech and another during the press conference.

He has done it from behind, when we were not present”.

The relationship between the two presidents has never been excellent, according to several councilors consulted.

A position of the PP summarizes it as cordial.

"Most of the brawls in these years have come from protocol acts," he says.

“You speak, I speak.

Sometimes we forget that we have a partner that is Ciudadanos”.

Other advisers believe that Villacís has been much more generous with Almeida than the other way around.

"The problem of the deputy mayor is that she does not understand that the official figure of the City Council is the mayor."

The intermediate positions of both parties - press and cabinet chiefs, mainly - have mitigated most of the tensions: when they mistakenly announced the candidacy for the Olympic Games, Almeida's refusal to hang the LGTBI flag...

Are Citizens afraid that the PP will fish among their councilors in the months that remain until the elections?

"What's the point?", answers a voice from the party.

“They can't touch our noses anymore, why are they going to do it now?

There is one year left for the elections, but if they do, then the one who loses is the PP because loyalty would be dismantled.

Citizens ask for time for the campaign.

But the mayor has already shown in the act of the third anniversary of his mandate that the PP has been in the electoral race for a long time.

Almeida protects herself from the sun with a fan along with several members of PP and Ciudadanos.

andrea commas

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