The Madrid City Council is going to offer two floors of the Espacio Tower to house the headquarters of the European Authority to Combat Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism (AMLA).
The mayor of the capital himself, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, confirmed this in statements to the media after meeting at the Palacio de la Villa with representatives of civil society to inform them of Madrid’s official candidacy to host said organization.
The mayor was confident that Madrid has the “best candidacy” and that, therefore, “we are in a position to present the best candidacy to the community institutions” for several reasons.
Firstly, in the fight against money laundering “Spain is an authority and has been working very well for a long time both from a regulatory and structural point of view.”
Secondly, because there is a “unity of candidacy” from the institutions, from the governments and from civil society. Thirdly, because “we offer the best possible city” to host the AMLA.
“It would be a recognition and reward from the European institutions for the strong commitment that we have always shown in Spain to the process of European construction, to the European Union, to the European vocation that we have in Spain,” Almeida noted. Finally, the Madrid councilor confirmed that there are 10 cities that have opted to host the AMLA headquarters but claimed not to know what the rest of the candidates are.
