Madrid, June 17 (EFE).- José Luis Martínez-Almeida was sworn in as mayor of Madrid this Saturday for the second time in a row, this time thanks to the votes of the 29 councilors of the PP municipal group, a party that once again obtained a majority absolute in the elections of May 28.
An absolute majority in the Palacio de Cibeles had not been achieved since 2011, when Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón had 31 councilors compared to fifteen from the PSOE, six from Izquierda Unida-Los Verdes and five councilors from Unión, Progreso y Democracia (UPyD). ).
Almeida, who has governed Madrid since 2019 in a coalition with Ciudadanos and thanks to an investiture pact with Vox, given that the popular and the orange party -officially extinct in the City Council since this Saturday- did not have an absolute majority, he obtained 29 councilors last May 28.
From the polls emanated, in addition to a monocolor government of the PP, a local corporation that is reduced to four municipal groups: PP, Más Madrid (twelve councillors), PSOE (eleven) and Vox (five).
The Madrid corporation was constituted this Saturday in a plenary session attended by more than 600 guests, including the still acting Madrid president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the former deputy mayor of Madrid, Begoña Villacís, the spokespersons and former presidents of the region and mayors from the capital such as Esperanza Aguirre, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón or José María Álvarez del Manzano.
The presence, in the boxes of the Palacio de Cibeles, of the aristocrat Teresa Urquijo, who maintains a sentimental relationship with Martínez-Almeida that has recently been made public, has also generated expectation.
AYUSO WISHES LUCK TO THOSE WHO WILL BE HIS FORMER ADVISORS
The acting Madrid president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has wished luck to the acting councilors of her government signed for the capital City Council who will leave office after the inauguration of Ayuso, Marta Rivera de la Cruz, David Pérez and Carlos Izquierdo, people who “will play a great role in the City Council whom, as he has said, he appreciates” very much.
Ayuso wanted to accompany the mayor of Madrid and all the councilors who take office today at the Palacio de Cibeles, to whom he has wished “all the successes”, which has been extended to “the 115, 120 mayors of the PP” in the Community of Madrid that throughout this day in which the Spanish city councils are constituted, they will also take possession of their positions.
SEAMLESS VOTING
The last point on the agenda of the plenary session has been the election of the mayor, in which there have been no surprises since there have been 29 ballots with the name of Almeida which have been deposited in the urn arranged in front of the chamber so that the vote to elect the alderman by the 57 councilors of the new City Council was secret.
After the secret vote, there has been a moment of ‘tension’ because Almeida’s name has not appeared until the sixth ballot, which previously, after the rest of the candidates (Javier Ortega Smith (Vox), Reyes Maroto (PSOE) and Rita Maestre (Más Madrid) if they had obtained votes, has generated a certain murmur that has ended in laughter of general relief in the popular bench.