The soap opera in which the political destiny of Begoña Villacís has become since it was revealed last Friday that an approach to the PP was being attempted in view of the next municipal elections has reached its climax today with the call for a press conference in which The deputy mayor of Madrid has broken the silence of the last days to announce that, far from everything that has been published for the “interests of one and the other”, she will continue to be part of the orange party” to “defend the liberal space” in Madrid .
From the Urso hotel, located on Mejía Lequerica street in the capital and close to the people’s headquarters, on the nearby Génova street, and visibly nervous, Villacís has come to the pass of the information that has appeared in recent days to deny all of them and confirm that she will simply continue where she is, “the same place from which I have not moved an iota” and for which she aspires to be the Ciudadanos candidate for the next elections in Madrid, although for this she will have to win internal party primaries in which numerous voices against have been clearly heard this week”.
Despite the categoricalness that he wanted to convey, Villacís has chosen a hotel and not the party headquarters to make the announcement of his candidacy for the primaries. Something that the orange leader has played down to redirect her speech towards her next steps within the formation: “After this week I can assure you that if I was convinced that this space [Cs] is essential, today I am more convinced than ever ”, he has insisted to emphasize that “there are plenty of reasons for people to trust this project”.
Villacís has presented himself as the “victim” of a game of interests to bring it down in which many people have spoken. “I didn’t know he had such a large circle of trust,” he ironized her before trying to distance himself from what happened in the crossfire. “I don’t move well in the mud. Those who know me know that there is a type of politics that I don’t practice. My circle has said many things, but today I speak”, she has ruled, ignoring that she herself participated in it with a video on social networks, first, and an interview in El Mundo, later.
After a week of rumors that placed the deputy mayor in the PP, the only words with which the deputy mayor has really distanced herself from the popular have come when listing her arguments for continuing in the orange party: “I’m running because I don’t I want to see Madrid in the hands of Ortega Smith” he pointed out. A radically different position from that maintained by the municipal corporation in which she participates and which, led by the PP, has made several pacts with the ultranationalists in the legislature.
Villacís’s intentions are unequivocal, but he will still have to convince his party’s militancy in a primary that a few weeks ago seemed ruled out but, after recent events, appears more open to the possible candidacy of councilor Santiago Saura to present himself as his opponent. as it circulates in the political cliques of Cibeles.
Today’s statements have contrasted with the silence maintained throughout the day yesterday, in which the deputy mayor spoke at the plenary session of the City Council and held a meeting with the mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, in Cibeles to talk about his future but he avoided at all times approaching the microphones of the press.
While the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has praised Villacís in recent hours and has underlined his willingness to incorporate her into the popular ranks, the president of the Community of Madrid and party leader in the region, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, She has been reluctant to open the door for him: “The best of Ciudadanos already came with me years ago.” This was her harsh response on Monday, when she was asked about the matter.
Thus, Martínez-Almeida was between two waters, since, on the one hand, embracing Villacís could have relaunched his candidacy, thanks to many of the voters who in 2019 opted for the orange ballot, but on the other his The head of ranks in the Community did not want the vice mayor on the lists of May 28 and, in any case, called on her to seek accommodation in those of the general elections at the end of the year.
