The speakers in a room at the Palace Hotel in Madrid welcome you this Wednesday:
“Dear Mayor, the platform is yours.
And 15 minutes later, he launched an announcement that caught the eyes of more than 100 people in the cafe. José Luis Martínez-Almeida has announced that the Madrid City Council will create a boulevard that will connect the Cibeles Fountain to the Puerta de Alcalá. “We are currently preparing the fundamental reform projects for the section of Alcalá Street between Cibeles and Plaza de la Independencia. “Madrid knows that in its Puerta de Alcalá it has a great symbol of the city and of history,” noted the capital's mayor. This intervention will begin in 2024, according to municipal sources.
The boulevard joins the recent restoration of the Puerta de Alcalá, renovated after an eleven-month renovation process with an investment of three million euros. The comprehensive intervention project was “one of the most intensive” since it was built in the 18th century, said the head of the restoration service. The Puerta de Alcalá has been renovated at least ten times throughout its history: the first in 1869 and the last in 2014. Architects and restorers describe the 1992 renovation as the last major intervention.
The boulevard that would connect the Cibeles Fountain to the Puerta de Alcalá, in an image from the Madrid City Council.
Almeida has once again recognized that the city council is also planning a transformation of the light landscape that will affect the Paseo del Prado and the surroundings of the Retiro. “The renovation of the Paseo del Prado,” he said, “is the great cultural core of the Landscape of Light and will be carried out in later phases, but always respecting the values of authenticity, integrity and universality,” making UNESCO classify this space as a World Heritage Site explained.
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Buried the north of La Castellana
The mayor of Madrid has taken stock of his five years in office. “We are in the moment of Madrid.” “The best moment we have had in our recent history,” he said. And immediately he sent a message against the government. “It is true that there is also a paradox. The best moment for Madrid coincides with the worst moment for constitutional Spain. In this sense, Madrid has a shared responsibility to send a message of hope and optimism. Madrid is the best symbol of constitutional democracy. And two projects for the capital were announced again. “I announce that we will put out to tender both the coverage of the Ventas Bridge, the Salamanca district with Ciudad Lineal, and the north of Castellana with the coverage of the Madrid Nueva Norte area.”
However, these announcements were made by Almeida himself back in April 2023. In addition, the burial in the north of Castellana has already been approved. In addition, it is being considered as part of the pharaonic Madrid Nuevo Norte project, which covers more than 3.3 million square meters (2.4 million if the part occupied by the streets is deducted). Train from Chamartín station) on one of the edges of the capital.
At this event in April 2023, the mayor announced with great fanfare and in the presence of up to five councilors from the last electoral term that the section that will be covered merges the end of the Paseo de la Castellana at Sinesio Delgado street. to the Peace Hospital. The area is 60,000 square meters. According to the Works division, the costs would be 130 million euros. This Wednesday, at the breakfast briefing in Almeida, the mayor said that it would be 80 million. Almeida's commitment is to implement it over the next four years. However, although there are no exact dates, these plans have already been taken into account in Madrid Nuevo Norte's plans since 2019.
The sales offer
The announcement of sales reporting was a proposal from the last electoral term, in which there was even a conflict between Ciudadanos and the PP. The then deputy mayor, Begoña Villacís, announced this proposal at another information breakfast. And weeks later, it was Almeida himself who announced this project as part of the PP plans.
“Everyone is copying our proposals, so it is best to vote for the original,” wrote then-delegate for urban development in the Madrid city council, Mariano Fuentes, on Twitter. The Ciudadanos city council accused Almeida of being “out of ideas” and of copying a proposal from his mayoral candidate Begoña Villacís. The Mayor of Madrid announced this Wednesday at the Palace Hotel that the cost of these works will be 80 million euros and that, according to his calculations, the work would also begin in 2024.
In urban innovation, everyone copies our suggestions. Therefore, it is best to vote for the original
Almeida is out of ideas and announces coverage of the M30 in sales, a measure he presented @begonavillacis two months ago. Surprising or not? https://t.co/vAuNTyS8HZ
— Mariano Fuentes (@MarianoFuentesS) May 10, 2023
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