cosmopolitan, open and where things happen”

Could you briefly summarize your tenure at Cibeles for more than three years?It will be difficult for me to explain briefly, we have done a lot… It was a legislative assembly marked by the pandemic, but at the same time a great transformation took place in Madrid. We had to make up for the time we lost in the left’s four-year rule. There are 1,200 million euros realized in works such as North Junction, a financial district or new clean-up contracts. Madrid is currently in a much more favorable position than in 2019 in terms of image and city branding.

Which Madrid did Manuela Carmena leave you?We’re buying a city economically, stop. With the blockade of urban and housing operations: one out of every 10 euros stipulated in the budgets was executed; we’re running nine now. We got a city that was embroiled in absolutely unnecessary controversy: the Lavapiés fire, the quirks of Romy Arce or Sánchez Mato… So what had to be done in eight years, we had to do in four years.

Stuck in your mission?When you’re mayor of Madrid, you talk to your neighbors and realize that there are always things that can be improved upon. The cleanliness of one neighborhood, the preserved state of another, improved security, lights, some infrastructure… I would love to be able to bury the A-5.

Is this an election promise for 2023?It was an election promise. [en 2019]. We have a commitment with the residents of Paseo de Extremadura and I am confident that we will be able to deliver on that with Operation Camp.

If I had a magic wand and could solve a problem in Madrid. What happens? If I could solve a problem in Madrid overnight, it would be accommodation.

Can’t it be done without magic?Of course it’s possible. But not from one day to the next. We must provide affordable housing to anyone who has a job and the economic capacity but does not have enough to be independent. We have 15 plots available to private developers to build more than 2,500 rental homes at a limited price.

Did they announce that Busrapid, which will connect Valdebebas and Ramón y Cajal, will also reach south?We believe that the mobility system of the future will be a kind of tram with traffic light priority to avoid traffic jams. Our goal is to spread this throughout the city.

In mobility, one of his promises in 2019 was to finish Madrid Central…I tried to keep my word. My initial decision was to accept his suspension, but the judges overturned it. And I respect the rule of law. Later, a Climate Change Act was passed in Spain, which obliges all cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants to have low emission zones. In this situation, we had two options: leave Madrid Central as it is or apply the changes.

Isn’t Madrid Central the same as Madrid 360?No. We have a model with public transportation alternatives, free buses on certain days, renewal of taxi, commercial goods and personal fleets, and we do not take any precautions without making an agreement with the tradesmen.

Is Madrid safe?Reasonably safe, we have the best citizen safety data of any European city outside of Vienna. Although we know that there are certain problems for youth gangs. But we cannot convey a message of distrust.

Is there a problem with the profession?Of course yes. I wish it had never happened and you had a strong hand with the occupation. We can’t have insightful messages like Carmena did. This is not just a private property issue: think of the neighbors on the occupied floor who do not follow the rules of hygiene or have to live with those who depend on the light of others.

Do you think Colau made it easier for Madrid to open the gap with Barcelona?We have to learn from Barcelona that they have been very successful in building their brand. 1992 Barcelona, ​​which we all envy with a bit of envy, as a cosmopolitan, open city, where everything happens… At the moment, Madrid is that Barcelona. The second lesson is that a reputation takes decades to build and is lost over the years. So, no one should think that what we do in the city will not end with bad policies in the next four years.

What about cleaning? The streets of Madrid continue to collect garbage around the containers.Cleanliness is no longer the main concern of the people of Madrid, as it was in the previous legislature. Does this mean we are self-satisfied? No, it’s not like that at all: for the first time we have prepared new cleaning contracts for inter-block areas, specific, more effective against graffiti… And we also need citizen cooperation and we understand that the cleanest city is the city. least this pollutes.

What is Madrid’s main problem now?Economical situation. To solve this, we let the people of Madrid have 500m more in their pockets instead of the municipal coffers. For example, with the decline in IBI next year

Will Vox support you with Budgets?I wouldn’t say Vox, I would say Javier Ortega Smith. It is he who jeopardizes the tax cuts in Madrid. Anyone who sees Vox performing with Rocío Monasterio in the ensemble and sees Javier Ortega’s demeanor should not sit or talk, because he tends to think that the problem is with the person, not the party.

Polls say they may have to compromise after elections in a coalition government.I desire a single government. We have learned that we need to have stable governments that know how to deal with situations. Madrid can make an unprecedented qualitative leap in its history. This requires not to be deceived by the person.

Could Reyes Maroto be mayor?I answer in another way. Have you seen an illusion for Reyes Maroto overflowing with the foundations of PSOE? With all due respect, it’s hard to rouse enthusiasm when you come in as a nominee after a name ball that even Jorge Javier Vázquez attended.

The PSOE hasn’t ruled the city since the last century, and there’s no left outside of Carmena’s four years. Are the people of Madrid right-wing?When you haven’t run the country all these years, you have an explanation: you can’t connect with the community. They can come up with many excuses, but unless they understand, they have a very difficult time.

Will a pool get more votes than Rita Maestre Reyes Maroto?The only thing that matters to me is that the mayor of the pool will be Almeida. PP need not worry about Reyes Maroto, Rita Maestre, Javier Ortega or Begoña Villacís. You should worry about the people of Madrid.

Now that you’re talking about Villacís… You always say he was the one who closed the door to PP but if you changed your mind would you put him on your lists?Begoña Villacís has proven to be so consistent that she has said many times that she won’t be on our lists, but no. So this is a closed discussion.

And any orange delegates caught your attention?I don’t want to play hypothetical games, I argue that this coalition government works very well because we respect each other. Also, Ciudadanos is in a very critical situation. This forces me to go overboard with my expressions.

At what stage are your relations with the central government?We are very clear that we must attract investment and wealth opportunities for the city, leaving society to decide what to do with this progress. For this, we need a legal security framework, a public-private cooperation framework and a low financial framework. That’s why we need the Spanish Government to respect that the Madrid model is a successful one: we don’t ask you to help us, we just ask you not to disturb us.

Does it bother you that much?Pedro Sánchez’s government has an almost obsessive obsession with Madrid. Faced with any problem, says Pedro Sánchez, Ayuso or Almeida. And I think there is a limit to that. And speaking of the Autonomous Community, Spain’s premier economic power and providing 70% of the Interregional Solidarity Fund, you can’t say we’re not supportive, capricious, or worse. Oriol Junqueras, Puigdemont or Aragonese. We are more committed to the Constitution.

As a State lawyer, how do you evaluate the reform aimed at turning the crime of sedition into aggravated sedition?It is not a legal change, it is a political grace payment, so it should not be understood that the crime of sedition should be legally corrected. The payment is called Pedro Sánchez’s Budgets for 2023 and needs the votes of the ERC. And besides being angry and shameless, it means depriving the Rule of Law of the necessary tools to combat a new Coup in Catalonia.

Do you think they will do it again?No doubt they said that. I’m not commenting. I’m taking your statement word for word. They will do it again! But the problem is that if they want to do it again, they won’t have any criminal liability.

explain…The crime of riot requires constant violence, and disrupting public order means burning containers. What pro-independence politicians did was not throw a bottle or a bachelorette party to burn containers or end up hitting the police. It was a plan designed to the millimeter to overturn the constitutional order. So there’s a huge gap between rebellion and social turmoil, and that’s the gap they’re going to take advantage of to do it again. Let’s not forget that it was the rule of law that stopped the independence supporters, not Pedro Sánchez.

And 155?But this is a constitutional clause, not a crime. It does not have to imply the commission of a crime. By the way, this will be the next thing he will manipulate, they’ve already announced it.

The ‘only yes is yes’ law is also highly controversial.Same thing happens. And they cannot defend their ignorance, there are three judges in that Cabinet: Pilar Llop, Margarita Robles and Fernando Grande-Marlaska. But it’s no longer machismo, it’s socialism. The Socialist Party was poisoned by Pedro Sánchez and assumed all its theses. Seeing Emiliano García Page or Javier Lambán makes me a little funny. [barones del PSOE] against the president. If they don’t really accept the norm, it’s very simple: they will either resign or tell the MPs of Castilla la Mancha and Aragón that it will not be voted on. You will see how they keep quiet and finally agree.