José Luis Martínez-Almeida has just returned from an official trip to Brazil. The mayor of the capital of Spain visited the city of São Paulo for three days on the occasion of the summit of the Union of Ibero-American Capitals (UCCI). But this Wednesday, after landing in Barajas, the Madrid City Council issued a surprise decree. From now on, the Commission for the Protection of the Historical, Artistic and Natural Heritage of Madrid, which meets once a week, will no longer include the political opposition parties that have expressed their positions with a voice but without the right to vote.
Almeida justified his decision after the government meeting this Thursday and in response to questions from the media: “We want this commission to be based on technical criteria and not on political criteria,” he said. “The PSOE likes to politicize everything, even the technicians and civil servants. “We already know what the PSOE is doing, which, for example, has reported to the Attorney General after a blow from the Supreme Court.” Almeida refers to the recent decision of the Supreme Court, which became known this Wednesday, in which the Supreme Court made the appointment of Dolores Delgado to the rank of prosecutor (highest career category), which the government made in October 2022, considering that she represented an exercise in “power diversion.” Delgado was also Minister of Justice between 2018 and 2020.
The participation of political groups in this Madrid urban planning commission had always been present until Ana Botella, mayor of the capital between December 2011 and June 2015, arrived and also decided to exclude the opposition groups. With the arrival of Manuela Carmena in 2015, Now Madrid once again included all parties in these debate tables, with voice but without voting rights. Almeida made the decision five years after taking command of the capital. “The new regulation provides for simplification of administration in order to avoid unnecessary duplication of work,” the decree states. Why now and not in 2019 when he became mayor with Ciudadanos?
“The urban planning delegate Borja Carabante was the one who presented us with the proposal,” explained Almeida. “Would I have made this decision sooner? Well, yes, but it was not brought up and we did not make that decision.” From 2019 to 2023, Mariano Fuentes, who belonged to Ciudadanos, was urban planning delegate in the capital. Since May 28th last year, Almeida has ruled the city council with an absolute majority. “We do not understand that parties mix political interests with technical criteria, which corresponds to civil servants,” said Almeida, explaining the decision. “We started the legislative session like this and it is appropriate. Depoliticizing institutions is our position against a government, the nation, that exploits all kinds of institutions. Not having a vote does not mean you can influence the debate. The PP never took part in these commissions because we had different opinions.”
However, with this political decision, the city council prevents the opposition from knowing in detail what is being debated at these tables, thus avoiding opposition and media criticism. This commission will meet this Friday and will discuss, among other things, the protection of various buildings, the modification of general plans and changes of use or special plans for historic and protected gardens and even the felling of trees that have an impact on the works on the expansion of the subway -Line 11, which is strongly questioned by residents.
“The decree surprised us this morning,” Socialist Urbanism spokesman Antonio Giraldo said by phone. “It is a very useful assignment. You are depriving us of the opportunity to observe this debate. If this is the commitment to transparency and accountability. They fill their mouths with transparency, democracy and participation and have the opposite effect. The PSOE was there every week, making suggestions, speaking out and arguing. We don’t want to engage in politics with this. It is shameful that the most important observers of citizens, namely the political groups, are being removed.” The spokesman for Más Madrid en Urbanismo, Álvaro Fernández-Heredia, also criticized the decision in a telephone conversation: “He does not want to have witnesses on a commission , in which the felling of trees is judged.” This is part of absolutism, they have no transparency and exclude the opposition. “They want to continue to shape a city as they please and destroy the heritage without witnesses to point the finger at them.”
What influences the most is what happens next. So you don’t miss anything, subscribe.
Subscribe to
Subscribe to our daily newsletter about Madrid here.