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Almeida and Villacís, a political divorce in full view of all before the 2023 elections

2022-12-29T13:08:41.570Z


The mayor and deputy mayor of the capital exemplify two different positions at the last press conference of the year: the PP wants to govern alone, Ciudadanos grabs the polls like a burning nail


The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida and the deputy mayor, Begoña Villacís, in the third year of balance of the Government of PP and Ciudadanos in the City Hall, in June 2022.Andrea Comas

The last press conference of the year at the Madrid City Hall was expected to include balance sheets, exhibitions, and future public performances.

Offer the political management of the last 365 days to the public.

And it has not been the case, at least not at first.

José Luis Martínez-Almeida has sat in the press room on the third floor of the Cibeles palace together with two of its political pillars: the councilor for the Treasury, Engracia Hidalgo, and the spokesperson and head of the Security and Emergencies area, Inmaculada Sanz.

In the center, swallowed up by the popular, has been Begoña Villacís, the deputy mayor of the capital and right now the most visible face in Ciudadanos, who still has not defined her political future.

Will she repeat herself as a candidate? Will she go to the PP? Will she leave politics?

Time, that's what they ask for in their environment.

Almeida, meanwhile,

has declined to take stock of this 2022 on its own initiative, a year that has been marked by two key moments: the scandal of the millionaire commissions for masks in the City Council and its political position by Pablo Casado in the internal war that the PP experienced in early February.

If Almeida is still there, explains a source with a lot of political weight in the Madrid PP, it is for a reason: "Ayuso saved Almeida on April 21 in the Assembly, when he publicly said that he would put his hand in the fire for him."

The Madrid president was referring to the scandal of the masks.

the scandal of the millionaire commissions for the masks in the City Hall and his political position by Pablo Casado in the internal war that the PP experienced at the beginning of February.

If Almeida is still there, explains a source with a lot of political weight in the Madrid PP, it is for a reason: "Ayuso saved Almeida on April 21 in the Assembly, when he publicly said that he would put his hand in the fire for him."

The Madrid president was referring to the scandal of the masks.

the scandal of the millionaire commissions for the masks in the City Hall and his political position by Pablo Casado in the internal war that the PP experienced at the beginning of February.

If Almeida is still there, explains a source with a lot of political weight in the Madrid PP, it is for a reason: "Ayuso saved Almeida on April 21 in the Assembly, when he publicly said that he would put his hand in the fire for him."

The Madrid president was referring to the scandal of the masks.

The mayor of Madrid is looking at the electoral horizon positively these days, releasing ballast.

This Thursday, before the press conference, he spoke again about the 2023 elections during an interview with Televisión Española:

“I aim for as wide a victory as possible.

No trace of Citizens.

No winks.

As if that were not enough, his government partner has hit a little more: “We have the best example in Juanma Moreno [el presidente de la Junta de Andalucía];

This is the path we will follow, also inspired by the example of Isabel Díaz Ayuso on May 4.

They inspire us."

An hour later, Villacís and Almeida have appeared in public, hand in hand.

Joint acts that both always reserve for big occasions.

Villacís has taken the floor after the intervention of the mayor of the public coffers, who announced to the people of Madrid an open secret: "Yes, there will be an extension of budgets for 2023."

The deputy mayor has activated the microphone to launch the announcement that one of her reference councillors, Mariano Fuentes, from Urban Development, has brought to the Governing Board this Thursday:

“We have approved the Los Berrocales project.

22,000 homes can be developed here”.

Later, to questions from the media, Almeida and Villacís have taken stock of this 2022. "It has been extraordinarily positive," said Villacís.

“A coalition government does not always seem like the easiest tool to govern, but we have shown that we can do it with fairness.

The coalition has worked well.

And, nothing, the approach is what we have been saying: we are different parties and we will run to compete in the elections.

“A coalition government does not always seem like the easiest tool to govern, but we have shown that we can do it with fairness.

The coalition has worked well.

And, nothing, the approach is what we have been saying: we are different parties and we will run to compete in the elections.

“A coalition government does not always seem like the easiest tool to govern, but we have shown that we can do it with fairness.

The coalition has worked well.

And, nothing, the approach is what we have been saying: we are different parties and we will run to compete in the elections.

Almeida has activated the microphone afterwards: “I agree with the deputy mayor.

It has been a very positive balance.

We have recovered the GDP from before the pandemic [...] Madrid, in economic terms, is going like a shot”.

And in reference to future elections: "We have resisted and we have been a good government, but from there, it will be the people of Madrid who decide what the future government of the city of Madrid will be."

Immediately, Villacís has given clues about his political future, but without leaving anything clear.

"Dreaming is free, Almeida", he has blurted out in public.

“All the polls tell us that Ciudadanos is going to leave, except yours [la del PP].

We look optimistically at the May elections, but not with the optimism of 2019. Ciudadanos has been loyal.

I don't think there are politicians in Spain who have rejected the mayoralty twice.

I have.

The surveys here are different from those in Andalusia or Castilla y León”.

"Will she run as a candidate then?"

“That will be decided by the militants of my party.

Almeida, firm, has not retracted his words.

“I want a strong government.

I want to convince as many Madrid residents as possible.

She [in reference to Villacís] said that it was not possible for the PP to devastate Andalusia, and it happened.

Each one clings to the example that can do better for us, how can it be otherwise”.

The reality is that there are only 150 days left for the elections.

The reality is that those who work daily at the Palacio de Cibeles in Madrid have always pointed out that, during these almost four years, Villacís and Almeida have been a political marriage that had two faces.

For the spotlights, for the photographers and for the public acts there was an unwritten slogan to show an affable, courteous and unpolluted side.

A model couple, a perfect political coalition.

The reality behind the cameras and behind the white walls of the imposing building in the center of the capital was very different, as evidenced this Thursday amid laughter and public statements.

Here, in the Madrid City Hall, lives a political couple who work separately behind closed doors, with different agendas, with disagreements, tensions,

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-12-29

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