Reyes Maroto: "Almeida does not want to be mayor of Madrid, now he just wants to please his boss, Mrs. Ayuso"

Reyes Maroto (Medina del Campo, Valladolid, 48 years old) arrives for her first interview as a candidate for mayor of Madrid after visiting a food market in the capital.

For now, she says, she will continue to live in Alcorcón, where she has been paying the mortgage on her house for years to be closer to her family.

“[José Luis Martínez] Almeida does not want to be mayor of Madrid.

The best thing he has done in these four years has been his opposition to Pedro Sánchez ”.

This week she will announce an advisory council that will help her prepare her electoral program and will be formed, among other personalities, by Luis García Montero.

Question

: When will you leave the ministry to dedicate yourself fully to the candidacy?

Answer

: Right now I am making these two positions compatible and I am in no rush.

I think that, to choose, I would choose more the model of Salvador Illa, (who was also a minister in the Government and later won the regional elections in Catalonia).

I'm going out to win these elections.

Q.

You were named a candidate on November 14, but since then your schedule has combined visits to Madrid neighborhoods with trips as minister to Slovakia, Korea and even, for example, this week to Morocco.

Why does she benefit him? For visibility?

R.

I think that you have to value, as I say, the project and, above all, that the time you dedicate to a candidacy is of quality.

Mayor Almeida has been the spokesman for Pablo Casado's Popular Party for more than two years and has dedicated more time to opposing the Government than to managing the problems that the people of Madrid have.

Therefore, I think he is a perfect match right now.

Q.

The deputy mayor of Barcelona, ​​Jaume Collboni, of the PSOE, has left office this week to dedicate himself to his electoral campaign as a candidate...

R.

_

They are two different candidates.

Collboni has to differentiate himself from his rival, Colau, and being in the same city government this is very difficult.

I am the other way around.

They accuse me of

and I say yes,

, because if Sánchez has brought something good to Madrid we are seeing it: an increase in pensions this month, aid during the pandemic… I do not have to differentiate myself from anyone.

I have a city model for the people.

Q.

_

So you don't have a date to leave the ministry?

R.

_

I'm not in a hurry, but clearly that moment will come because I want to win and that means that I have to dedicate 24 hours a day to it.

Reyes Maroto, on January 26 in Madrid.

MOEH ATITAR

Q.

_

What are the three main problems that Madrid has?

R.

_

The inefficiency and management of public services, mobility and inefficiency in public infrastructure.

There are no projects.

My priority is to improve management and place Madrid in the international arena.

We have to be an example and today is an example of mismanagement, such as pollution.

In my first 100 days I will create Madrid Conecta, an agency that will integrate the employment agency together with other City Council bodies so that an economic employment model can be connected, especially for young people.

I will honor Almudena Grandes at the Palacio de Cibeles.

And I will create the portfolio of Sustainable Mobility and Urban Agenda so that it bets on public transport.

The city has to be for people and not for cars.

Q.

Who proposed you to be mayor?

A.

There was not a moment.

There was a need to change Madrid and there was talk of my candidacy.

I spoke to the party in Madrid and my name came up there along with other colleagues.

I also spoke with President Sánchez.

Q.

Did you share the strategy of feeding candidate names for weeks such as Luis García Montero and, even, the contribution by the PSOE in Madrid to not stop a hoax with Jorge Javier Vázquez as a candidate?

R.

_

She had to be prepared to face the challenge and knew that she still had a significant workload in the ministry and when mine came out, well, she was clearly going to position me as a candidate.

When I tackle projects in my professional life, at the university, in politics, I do it with great enthusiasm and it shows.

I am already working in the government areas of Madrid.

I have a group that I'm working with and I'm going to make it known this week.

I've called it an advisory board.

I am supported by Luis García Montero, who is advising me on cultural issues.

I have Matilde Fernández with the whole subject of single people.

In the field of tourism, Antonio Catalá is supporting me, and José Luis Ezquiaga in urban planning.

Q.

Will they go on the electoral list?

R.

_

No. This is an advisory group.

People close to the party, but independent, who want to work with me and I appreciate their complicity because I believe that to be mayor one has to surround oneself with the best people and talents.

I will give more names in the coming days.

Q.

Do you already have the list drawn up? Will you have any of the current councilors?

R.

_

It is too early to name names.

On February 28, the groups in Madrid have to vote for the candidates.

I am a grassroots militant and I respect the processes.

I'll give the names later.

P.

It does not have, however, the current spokesperson for the Municipal Group, Mar Espinar, who is going to the Assembly.

R.

_

We all have phases in politics.

Mar is going to do a very good job in the Assembly because she knows the problems of Madrid very well.

Q.

The newspaper

and Vozpópuli pointed out last Friday that the PSOE would be probing Carmena to support her list and even close it.

R.

_

It won't go on the list.

Yes it is true that I am talking to her.

She is going to collaborate with the left-wing candidacies and if we want the left to win in Madrid it is important that Carmena support us.

Q.

_

And Marta Higueras, who was the deputy mayor of Carmena and is now in the Mixed Group?

R.

_

No. She's not going to be on my list.

Q.

_

The PSOE has been losing votes in Madrid year after year.

More than 54% of their voters since 2003. Why?

R.

You have to be self-critical.

There is a loss, I suppose, of connection with the citizenry and perhaps the previous candidate or candidates did not know how to convey what the project of the socialist party was.

I have a project that I lead, I am a very close person and I immediately empathize with the problems.

Q.

_

Do you consider yourself a skydiver?

R.

_

No. My project is collective.

I have been in Madrid for 26 years and I want to value the work that the municipal group is doing and that work is an inheritance.

I bring management and experience.

Reyes Maroto, on the 26th, in the park of La Quinta de los Molinos.

MOEH ATITAR

Q.

_

Have you met with the municipal group yet?

R.

_

Not with everyone.

Q.

_

The political scientist and current director of the Ateneo, Luis Arroyo, took the reins of his electoral campaign in December and has left the project.

What happened?

R.

I empathize much more with councilor Enma López (current campaign manager).

She was a subject of models.

We are friends and we will continue to collaborate.

Q.

_

If the results are not as expected, will he leave?

R.

_

If I don't win in May, I will win in 2027.

Q.

_

What has Almeida done well in these four years?

R.

_

Oppose the government.

Almeida does not want to be mayor of Madrid.

The best thing he has done in these four years has been his opposition to Pedro Sánchez.

He wants to continue being the spokesman for the PP.

Now he just wants to please his boss, Mrs. Ayuso.

Q.

Let's talk about housing in Madrid.

Do you rent or have a mortgage?

R.

I have a mortgage that I have not finished paying.

The problem of housing in Madrid is solved with more public rental offer and making empty houses immediately available to the people of Madrid.

Q.

_

Are you in favor of limiting the rental price?

R.

_

It's a debate I'm willing to have.

I have not made the decision.

In fact, this debate is open in the Government of Spain, but I believe that any measure that we can take to facilitate access to housing at decent prices is something that the Government and I, as mayor, have to be involved in. , I want to be.

Also as Minister of Tourism I am working on the issue of tourist housing.

I am not in favor of the prohibition, but they must be regulated.

Q.

_

Let's talk about the rest of the mayoral candidacies.

What do you think of the new maestre campaign of 'Lo va a hacer Rita'?

R.

More than saying if I like it or not, well, I'm going to have my own campaign.

A campaign that has a lot to do with me, with Reyes, with the candidate, with a very personal project, but also with a clear connection with the people of Madrid.

Now they still see me as a minister, but I want them to see me as a mayor.

Q.

And isn't it better to leave the ministry?

R.

_

Not necessarily.

My campaign is going to be a very close campaign, with leadership, management and empathy.

I am a person who wins a lot in short distances and I do not generate confrontation.

Q.

Why would the progressive voter have to choose you and not Rita Maestre?

R.

_

A differential element between Rita and me has to do with management, with experience and leadership.

The left is the one that has to mobilize, because only in this way are we going to win over the PP and an ultra-right that is also strong in Madrid.

The fact that we are both strong is very good for the city, because that means that we are going to be able to mobilize the leftist vote.

Reyes Maroto, in Madrid, on January 26. MOEH ATITAR

Q.

_

The right has already said that it will run a campaign focused on Sánchez.

You are a minister.

R.

Sanchismo is

progress and advances.

My campaign will focus on Madrid.

Q.

_

The candidate for the Assembly for the PSOE, Juan Lobato, has criticized the reform of the crime of embezzlement.

You, however, have voted in favour.

R.

I defend the reform.

I believe that everything that the Government is doing to restore coexistence with Catalonia must be addressed.

Today Catalonia is another Catalonia.

It is not just a measure, but everything we are doing to restore coexistence with Catalonia, which is part of Spain.

And I think that this has undoubtedly weakened the

.

The Government does not say it, anyone who goes to Catalonia sees it.

This is good for Spain, for Catalonia and also for Madrid, something that the PP does not share because it makes a cause of the confrontation between Catalonia and Madrid.

Q.

As Minister of Tourism, do you think Ayuso was right to open bars and restaurants earlier during the pandemic?

R.

At that time, what had to be done was to protect the lives of the people of Madrid and what was experienced in Madrid with the death protocols in the residences... (More than 6,000 elderly people died).

The most important thing was to save lives.

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