Madrid’s Olympic ‘candidacy’ sets the relationship between Villacís and Almeida on fire: “It’s very serious”

“Begoña swung”, they say from the Game Popular. “It has made Villacís very bad that Almeida has denied him without calling her before,” they respond from Citizens. The good harmony that has united the mayor of Madrid for two years, José Luis Martínez-Almeida (PP), and his vice-mayor, Begoña Villacís (Cs), it seems to have the days numbered.

The reason? Villacís affirmed this Tuesday on La Ser microphones that Madrid would be a candidate to host the Games Olympics, with an eye on 2036. The ruler of the capital reacted with surprise and his team quickly went out to correct the deputy mayor.

The relationship between the two leaders, which was strengthened during the coronavirus pandemic, lives after this episode one of its worst moments. “What has happened is very serious and mark a before and after“, sources from the orange party tell EL ESPAÑOL, who maintain that the mayor’s ways have not been the best.” We would have appreciated a call rather than see a denial in the media “, they complain in Cs.

From the training liberal they insist that the deputy mayor did not intend to make a big announcement: “It was an interview in which Begoña came in by phone and they simply asked her if Madrid would host some JJOO and she gave the usual answer, which is the one collected in point 75 of the government agreement with the PP, that is, Madrid aspires to be an Olympic venue “.

Villacís’s “slip”

From the mayor’s team they defend themselves and explain to this medium that when Villacís made the announcement “they received calls from the media from all over Spain to confirm the news.” “We were forced to deny Begoña’s slip because there is no application in progress“, say PP sources, who do admit an” Olympic aspiration “, but today there is no “no dossier or documentation” to formalize the candidacy.

It is the thesis that the mayor also maintains in public. “The decision has not been made to formally present the candidacy for 2036. If it varies, it will be about unity with the rest of the institutions and with the complicity with the rest of Madrid. Without having tested it, I think it is not prudent to formally launch the candidacy. At this moment the decision has not been made, because we must be very prudent; we must have a minimum guarantee of success, “Almeida told the media this Wednesday after meeting with the president of Spanish Olympic Committee (COE), Alejandro White. A quote that, according to Cs, shows that the mayor “retracts” and confirms what was announced by Villacís. From the PP, however, they explain that the meeting with Blanco has been produced by “the concern” that Villacís’ announcement has generated.

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