Investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett said that "only when the tide goes out do you know who was swimming naked".. Well, the tide has gone out all of a sudden, and how! We do not remember such a low tide; as I write these lines, we have 3,434 dead in Spain and what remains to come. In a crisis that no one of my generation or my old father's generation can remember, everyone's masks are melting and what is there appears. We are like in the tale of Hans Christian Andersen, The Emperor's New Clothesin which it turned out that the King was naked!
The fact is that we are very bare of content. A new style of press conference has been inaugurated and now, in order to ask questions to the President and the Ministers in the appearances on the occasion of the coronavirus crisis, you have to pass the selection of the Secretary of State for Communication, Miguel Ángel Oliver. Thus, pre-selected questions are asked and answered with no possibility of cross-examination. This is unthinkable in the United States, France and Italy. The questions are asked without censorship, but is it possible that here we are naked of content and cannot go beyond the argumentative? leaders know how to deal with uncomfortable questions, uncomfortable situations and they can improvise because the argument of coherence comes as standard.
And it seems that the Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, has this argument of coherence; he answers uncomfortable questions; he faces uncomfortable situations and makes uncomfortable but convenient decisions for the good of all of us who live in Madrid. And where what abounds around us is a lack of content, a leader with common sense and management skills emerges. Almeida decides with rigour and foresight and all his public interventions have been clear, understandable and have had a lot of echo in the social networks where those who until recently mocked him have ended up recognising his ability to lead an unparalleled crisis. Almeida embodies management capacity over ideology; unity and non-confrontation to focus on solving the problem.
It is now, when the tide is very low and it is very clear who is naked, that above-average intelligence comes to the fore. Almeida's attitude in the face of an extreme situation has been to show his face from the very first moment, anticipating the measures taken by the government. Of the 549 million euros of surplus in 2019, the Mayor wanted to allocate 420 million euros to adopt economic and social measures to alleviate the effects of the coronavirus; the Stability Law and the Government do not allow the use of this surplus and Madrid will only have 20 of these 420 million.
What comes out of Almeida is a genuine concern for efficiency and for citizens. We go beyond the argumentation. Principles, values and preparation are not improvised. Almeida says that "Madrid united is unbeatable. Our values and pride in our city will carry us through". I believe it too, Mr Mayor, and I also believe that this time Andersen's fairy tale would have a different ending and the child would say: "Madrid is unbeatable": How the King was dressed!
Lucía Casanueva
Managing Partner of Proa Comunicación