The spokeswomen of the left-wing factions in the Madrid City Council, Rita Maestre (Más Madrid) and María Reyes Maroto (PSOE), have relied on the ruling of the Cronistas de la Villa to demand that the Israeli people not be granted the right to the highest honor the capital. The group of experts affiliated to the City Council sent two reports to the government of José Luis Martínez-Almeida rejecting the award of this badge, which was approved in October at the request of Vox and with the votes in a municipal plenary session of the PP, as the SER- Chain announced on Thursday. Constantino Mediavilla, one of the chroniclers, told EL PAÍS that the group believes that “this is not the right time and there is no reason to award the Medal of Honor to the people of Israel.”
This Thursday, Maestre supported the position of the association of chroniclers from the social network”. Maestre sent a letter to the union in November asking for an impartial verdict that was not subject to pressure from the city council, the body responsible for appointing the chroniclers. “We will use all our resistance so that the Medal of Honor is not awarded to Israel,” emphasized Maestre in X.
In the same vein, Reyes Maroto demanded this Thursday that the mayor “be in line with the report”. [de los cronistas]” and to reverse the awarding of the Medal of Honor to Israel, which he called a “political decision.”
More than 20,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza. More than 7,700 children murdered.
We will use all our resistance to prevent the Medal of Honor from being awarded to Israel.
The Villa Chroniclers reject the concession.
Madrid must continue to stand up for human rights. pic.twitter.com/UgXWHWPfyK
— Más Madrid City (@MasMadridCiudad) December 14, 2023
The expert panel referred to Article 17 of the City Council's Ordinance on Honorary Awards, which defines the Medal of Honor as a recognition “of an exceptional nature” reserved for “any natural or legal person, national or foreign, who…” are distinguished by their “Extraordinary personal merits and for having provided very important services to the city of Madrid.” The association of journalists and historians concludes that honoring the Israeli people “does not meet any of the requirements provided for in the regulations,” according to Mediavilla.
Although the chroniclers' verdict is not binding, recognitions of this kind have been reversed in the past, such as Almeida's initiative to appoint filmmaker Tim Burton as ambassador to Madrid, which failed after the negative opinion of the panel of experts. Adding to the Burton case is the rudeness of Mick Jagger – who preferred to visit Guernica before becoming the capital's first ambassador -; The award for Israel could be the Almeida government's third failed honor.
What influences the most is what happens next. So you don't miss anything, subscribe.
Subscribe to
Some members of the Popular Party even expressed expectations about the declaration, such as the PP spokesman in Madrid, Carlos Izquierdo, who during the plenary session on October 30 asked to “be clear about what the Cronistas de la Villa decide later “. Having now learned of the report that the experts had presented to the city council, Izquierdo refrained from making any statements to EL PAÍS.
The only public comment came from Vice Mayor Inmaculada Sanz, who limited herself to saying that “an analysis of the argument will be made.” [en el informe] is determined.” The city government spokeswoman also used the opportunity to reiterate her condemnation of what she called a “cruel terrorist attack” by Hamas on Israeli territory.
More information
The initiative to award Israel in the midst of the war against Hamas in Gaza was approved on October 30 during a plenary session of the municipal council with the positive votes of PP and Vox and the rejection of Más Madrid and the PSOE. Following the judgment of the Cronistas de la Villla, it is now the turn of the Ministry of Culture to prepare a report that will assess and, if necessary, certify that the conditions for granting this dignity are met.
The Cronistas de la Villa de Madrid is a union with more than a century of history, dedicated primarily to issuing opinions related to the public activity of the city, at the request of the Madrid City Council. It currently consists of eight members appointed by the city council itself, including five journalists, two historians and the Institute of Madrid Studies.
The City Medal of Honor is the most prestigious badge of honor awarded by the capital. It is awarded each year on March 15, San Isidro Day, and cannot be awarded to more than three people per year. In 2023, the city council awarded this badge to the journalist Ana Rosa Quintana, the singer Alaska and Melchor Rodríguez García, mayor of Madrid during the civil war. This medal is exclusively voluntary in nature, that is, obtaining this medal does not confer any administrative, labor, economic or representative rights on Madrid.
Of the two reports sent by the chroniclers to the city council, one is signed on behalf of the Institute of Madrid Studies by five members: Pedro Montoliú, Antonio Castro, Constantino Mediavilla, Feliciano Barrios and María Teresa Fernández. The other report was issued individually by Ruth Toledano, a member of the Chroniclers' Union, who in statements to Efe Agency called Israel's award an “absolute disgrace.”
The Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, receives the Israeli Ambassador to Spain, Rodica Radian-Gordon, at the Cibeles Palace on October 9, 2023. Ricardo Rubio (Europa Press)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter about Madrid here.