Something difficult to understand has happened in the municipal elections of Madrid that could seem like electoral masochism. The streets of unrest with Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida, where there have been protests shouting "you have to notice when voting", returned to give their support in the 28-M to the same municipal team that had caused them so much discontent. He has passed through all of Madrid in places that seemed to be hotbeds of conflict where Almeida was going to suffer punishment for issues of municipal management as diverse as the felling of trees, noise, ghost kitchens or unfulfilled promises. There are many variables that influence a person's vote, according to experts, but the result in the capital, where Almeida has obtained an absolute majority with the best result since 2011, suggests that the municipal has had less weight than major issues on the national agenda, such as the terrorist candidates of Bildu or the specific cases of alleged vote buying by the PSOE in small towns.
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This generates an obvious frustration in the neighbors most involved, those who stand at the front of the demonstration holding the banner. One of the leaders of the protest against the felling of trees in Madrid Río, Eduardo Ramis, sums it up with irony: "What do trees matter when we are threatened because ETA is back?"
EL PAÍS puts the magnifying glass on what has happened in 19 census tracts where neighborhood conflicts with the City Council have erupted. Each census tract has approximately 1,500 residents, a size so small that it ensures that residents on those streets know about the battle against the mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, and the vice mayor, Begoña Villacís. Of these selected sections, the vote for the municipal team of PP and CS has only fallen in two tables, those affected by the unfulfilled promise to bury the A-5 as it passes through the Paseo de Extremadura.
Calle Treseta 39 (Ensanche de Carabanchel). Up 7.1 points
Almeida planted a garbage dump here without notifying the neighborhood. The work began in March and the neighbors found out from the workers. Residents who have taken to the streets are concerned about the aesthetic impact, noise, odors and possible depreciation of their homes. The canton is 50 metres from the city's largest shopping centre, Islazul, and 250 metres from the nearest homes. Street cleaning workers will use this facility to temporarily deposit garbage, before the daily transfer to the landfill.
Despite the discontent, support for the two parties in the municipal government has grown by seven points. A neighborhood leader, Borja Cacho, says that the PP has set up information tables next to the metro stop for at least four days, something that other parties have not done. "They have misinformed the neighbors by downplaying the impact that the canton will have. It will probably have influenced the vote, but the truth is that among the best informed, those who went to the demonstrations, there have also been many who have voted for the PP."
Aviation Avenue (Cuatro Vientos). Grows 0.6 points
The neighborhood has protested against a canton since December, when workers revealed the secret of the City Hall. A few days ago they went to the Municipal Board of Aluche to make a comedy in which three neighbors wore masks of Almeida, Ayuso and Borja Carabante, the Councilor for the Environment. Julia Velilla, who has her home less than 100 meters away, has voted against the City Council, but her vote appears elsewhere. "I have not voted here because I am still registered in Villaverde where I lived before."
Sante Genoveva Street (La Elipa). Up 5.9 points
This is another section affected by a canton. On Saturday, May 20, eight days before the election, they demonstrated for the last time before the vote. Only about 50 people attended. Elisa Perez, a 41-year-old Vox proxy, saw the result Sunday in the first person. She does not live next to the canton, but this is her lifelong neighborhood and she has been involved in the struggle. "I was not surprised at all that the PP won because the canton affects the three closest neighborhood blocks. Human beings by nature are selfish and look after our own."
Father Damián (Latin America). Up 1.1 points
The Bernabéu tunnel: a neighborhood of the PP, against the PP, less to vote. Four years after the start of the works, the Santiago Bernabéu continues upside down. And, for the first time, the neighborhood rebels. A rara avis in the district of Chamartín, where the club coexists on match days with 150,000 neighbors in six neighborhoods very unaccustomed to hanging banners on balconies, to complain publicly in the media and, above all, to demonstrate in the streets, even more so against the PP. These neighbors have collected signatures, protested and taken to the streets. Now, with the elections, PP and Ciudadanos have risen in votes 1.1 points.
Paseo de la Chopera (Chopera). Grows 0.1 points
The "no to logging" began in February when they learned that the Community of Madrid, with the support of the City Council, planned to knock down 1,027 trees to make way for the future Metro station of Madrid Río. The president of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, suspended logging after a massive protest to study alternatives, but the area has remained fenced and neighbors believe that the authorities will resume logging now that it has already been voted. The neighbors have had an information point at the entrance of the Arganzuela park and have collected more than 26,000 signatures, but the vote for the two parties of the Almeida government has risen 0.1 points. The spokesman for the neighborhood association, Eduardo Ramis, 56, says that the neighbors knew well that with another City Council it would have been possible to cancel the logging. "Many people live with their backs turned to their reality and attend to the big headlines," he criticizes.
José Calvo, 10(Berruguete). Grow 1 point
The pandemic opened up a new business model in big cities, ghost kitchens. In the middle of a courtyard of neighbors or on roofs that adjoin public schools, chimneys began to emerge that impregnated the houses with odors from industrial kitchens. In February, there were 10 in Madrid, according to municipal sources. One of them is on Calle José Calvo, 10. Here, PP and Ciudadanos have risen 10 votes compared to 2019, going from 375 to 385.
"This is very curious," says Santiago Navas, an affected neighbor. "In the chat of the affected neighbors I sent a document with the proposals of the parties that were against the kitchens. I received a reply from a member who talked about ETA and rapists on the loose. I didn't say who to vote for, I just sent the proposals. The ideological wall has triumphed over the real problems of my neighborhood."
Paseo Ermita del Santo, 48 (Puerta del Ángel). Up 0.9 points
Almeida prepares the reclassification of the shopping center La Ermita de Madrid Río against most of the associations of the neighborhood. It is an "urban ball" in Madrid Río that will favor a Venezuelan tycoon, who will be able to build two skyscrapers of houses.
Plaza del Carmen (Sun). Up 3.4 points
In this emblematic enclosure, a few meters from the Puerta del Sol, the reform caused the felling of 24 trees a few months ago. Neighbors complained about the loss of these mature trees that provided much-needed shade in the center.
Menéndez Pelayo, 65 (Niño Jesús). Up 3.2 points
Almeida announced in 2020 and by surprise that, both the City Council and the Community of Madrid, were going to build a large parking lot in the Retiro area: 800 spaces next to the emblematic park. The project has raised blisters in the neighborhood, which does not consider it necessary. Now, it is suspended. 45,000 signatures were collected against the project. UNESCO has warned that the declaration as World Heritage of the Landscape of Light, which occurred in 2021 and covers the Paseo del Prado and the Retiro, is in danger.
"This happens because it has been voted in a national key," says Felix Sanchez, spokesman for the Retiro Norte Neighborhood Association. "Management has not been given any importance. People have voted locally for left-wing parties and nationally-based for right-wing parties. Here the PP has only come once in campaign. He has not campaigned on the street. They have not been seen discussing proposals. We had a debate and nobody came. I don't know if we live in a bubble... But we are surprised."
Avda Albufera, north and south corner. (Vallecas Bridge). Grows 1.2 and 4.6 points
Bridge of the M-30 in Vallecas. In March 2021, all municipal groups approved the beginning of the procedures to dismantle the huge bridge that cuts two large avenues in the district of Puente de Vallecas, that of the Albufera and Avenida Ciudad de Barcelona. The neighbors have been demanding the demolition for more than a decade. Up to 170,000 cars pass through the bridge every day, which generate noise, pollution and a mobility barrier for pedestrians. However, last year Almeida gave up on eliminating it. "It does not compensate at all," said the mayor of Obras, Paloma García Romero. Two years later, the polls have spoken. Although Más Madrid proposed to tear down the bridge, the PP has also won at these tables.
"It has happened that the right is in a situation of strength. It is a kind of change of cycle, "says by phone the president of the neighborhood association of Puente de Vallecas, Jorge Nacarino.
Paseo Extremadura (Camp). Drops of 1.5 and 4 points
The burial of the A-5 motorway was a star project that Almeida has failed to fulfill. Some residents of this neighborhood have the window of their apartments two meters from the road. Almeida promised the burial of this section during the 2019 electoral campaign, but on September 25 of last year he announced that his promise was "unviable". Andrés Piñeiro, president of the neighborhood association, believes that many have bought the excuses of the City Council, which now assures that it will resume the project as part of Operation Camp, a macroplan to build 12,000 homes, in which the central government will also participate. He also believes that he has been able to influence some improvement in the neighborhood. "Among other things, they have finally fixed some sports fields." Falls are observed in several census tracts attached to the highway, including the two selected.
Ponzano (Gcía Paredes/Ríos Rosas) (Almagro and Ríos Rosas). Increases of between 1.3 and 11.7 points
This is a kilometer-long neighborhood street with more than 70 bars. The protests over the noise predate the arrival of Almeida, but the neighbors feel that the government team of PP and CS has prioritized business over the right to rest. They regret the permissiveness with bars that, they say, lack licenses, as well as with the terraces, which have been allowed in parking spaces for much of the legislature. The results show that the vote for Almeida's team has risen between 1% and 11% in the six census tracts of the southern half of the street, the most affected part. The most quarrelsome neighbors against the noise are angry, as is logical. "If the campaign had been in municipal management, the punishment of the PP may have been visible," says Pilar Rodríguez, the president of the El Organillo neighborhood association.
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