«The center-right cannot stay at home on May 26,» insisted José Luis Martínez-Almeida repeatedly, the Partido Popular’s candidate for Mayor of Madrid, during his speech at the Proa Comunicación Observatory with a presentation titled ‘Recovering Madrid for Everyone’ , held at the Wellington Hotel.
Martínez-Almeida put special emphasis on the need to mobilize his electorate «to exert a democratic counterweight» to the policies of the central government led by the PSOE. In this sense, he referred to the policies of tax and public spending cuts carried out by the PP Government in the Community of Madrid at the time back when José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero controlled the central government.
The PP candidate didn’t want to waste time in blaming anyone for the general election results. «It’s clear that no voter from the center-right is satisfied, because the main objective was to throw out Sanchez and eliminate the influence of Podemos,» he admitted. But he encouraged voters not to be influenced by the latest and most recent results presented by the CIS (Sociological Research Center), which gives an absolute majority to the sum of PSOE, Más Madrid and Unidas Podemos seats combined, «because the center right took 180,000 more votes than the left in the Community of Madrid.» Thus, he was convinced that, «with equal mobilization on the left and the right, we win».
«Restoring common sense and Madrid’s pride to generate enthusiasm for the city»
He also put forward his party as the great unifier of the center-right vote, «as Ciudadanos is capable of lending support to the PSOE» and VOX «has an ideological spectrum so narrow that it will be insignificant,» the latter of which he feels is a reason why voters who have gone will come back to the PP. He argued that the PP should be the predominant force of the center-right because of its transversality.
The PP candidate for Mayor of Madrid also outlined the philosophy and some specific actions of his electoral program to answer questions from the audience. In this way, he said that Madrid meets the criteria to be one of the main international centers of the wealth creation and employment, «but it lacks a global brand and I want to build that brand».
On the other hand, he proposed to introduce tax cuts and to incentivize public-private partnerships. Within the framework of the former he stipulated, for example, tax deductions to large families on property and motor vehicle taxes. But, above all, he advocated «implementing policies that allow economic activity to be more dynamic in order to withstand recession conditions down the road,» as well as «regulatory streamlining with the aim of reducing the margin of discretion that exists in the city of Madrid,» and most especially, «to generate space for the people to decide and for me to carry out as mayor what the people want». And all of this, to restore «common sense» and the «pride of Madrid» to create «enthusiasm» for the city.
Martínez-Almeida, who admitted that he is not afraid of «making decisions,» also addressed issues related to the environment, Central Madrid, the use of environmentally-friendly vehicles, the regulation of the ride-sharing and his proposals to enhance the construction of energetically sustainable housing, among other issues.
Biography of José Luis Martínez-Almeida
José Luis Martínez-Almeida was born in Madrid in 1975. He holds a Law Degree from the Comillas Pontificial University (ICAI-ICADE), and has been a State Attorney since 2001. He has worked in Gerona, Toledo and Madrid. In 2007 he was appointed as General Director of Historical Heritage of the Community of Madrid, a position he held until 2011. Between 2011 and 2013 he was Secretary-General of the Governing Council of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, Secretary-General of the Board of Directors of SEPI Desarrollo Empresarial from September 2013 to April 2014, also assuming the lead role in the Legal Advising Department.
In April 2014, he was appointed by of the Council of Ministers as Director of the Institutional Legal Division of the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility. After the 2015 Municipal and Autonomous Elections he took office as Councilor of the PP’s municipal group and on April 28, 2017 he was chosen as spokesperson of the Municipal Partido Popular Party, a position he currently holds. On January 13, 2019 was appointed Candidate for Mayor of Madrid by the Partido Popular. His hobbies include golf and his passion for Atlético de Madrid.
The Proa Observatories are discussion forums complemented by the participation of prominent executives, politicians and professionals. They were enacted with the purpose of becoming a laboratory of ideas, where genuine dialogue is fostered to debate current business issues as well as discuss corporate reputation, branding and public relations as important elements for businesses to improve and succeed.
Among the distinguished guests who have participated in these forums are economist Manuel Conthe, President of Red Eléctrica Spain Jordi Sevilla, former Minister of Education, Culture and Sport José Ignacio Wert, writers Pablo D’Ors and Pilar Urbano, Director of External Communication at Deloitte Antonio Belmonte, Director of Communication and Institutional Relations at El Corte Inglés José Luis González-Besada, the High Comissioner for the Spanish Brand Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros, Director General of the OJD Manuel Sala and IESE Professor Yago de la Cierva, editor of Innovación Digital de Vocento Borja Bergareche, President of Multinacionales por Marca España José María Palomares and the President of Red Eléctrica de España, Jordi Sevilla, among others.