Recover Madrid Explained
Recover Madrid (Spanish; Castilian: Recupera Madrid) is a political party in Madrid, Spain. It began in March 2021, when four members of the City Council of Madrid left Más Madrid and formed a mixed group. The mixed group was dissolved by court order in May 2022, on Más Madrid's complaint. Two councillors left Recover Madrid before the 2023 Madrid City Council election, in which it presented a list comprising professionals from each council area. After a controversy over validation of signatures, it changed its constitution from a grouping of electors to a political party. It did not win any seats in that election.
History
Foundation
On 4 March 2021, four members of the City Council of Madrid elected as members of Más Madrid quit the party. All four – Marta Higueras,, Felipe Llamas and – were close to former Mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena. The four criticised the Más Madrid leader in the council, Rita Maestre, whom they accused of abandoning progressive policies, and believed that Más Madrid's failure to establish a joint list with Unidas Podemos in the 2019 Madrid City Council election cost Carmena's office as mayor at the expense of José Luis Martínez-Almeida of the People's Party (PP).[1] By the end of the month, the four were permitted to form a mixed group in the city council, the first such occurrence in its history.[2]
In December 2021, Llamas resigned from the city council in disagreement with the mixed group's votes in favour of passing the budget proposed by Almeida.[3] His resignation allowed Más Madrid to be allotted a replacement, making them the largest individual party in the council again.[4]
In May 2022, Más Madrid won a court case to dissolve the mixed group in the city council and make the three councillors sit as independents. The argument was that Más Madrid contested the 2019 elections as a single registered political party, not as a coalition as argued by the council.[5] Shortly after the verdict, Recover Madrid took Más Madrid to court for alleged illegal funding.[6]
2023 Madrid election
In September 2022, Higueras announced that she would not take part in Recover Madrid's campaign for the 2023 Madrid City Council election due to ideological disagreements with Calvo and Cueto, including on whether Recover Madrid should contest elections at all.[7] The following January, Recover Madrid presented its list for the election in which it would run as a grouping of electors. The list, led by Cueto, included a qualified professional in each of the sectors for which the council is responsible.[8] Recover Madrid posted a LinkedIn listing for its candidate for treasurer in the City Council, a job potentially worth over €100,000.[9] The grouping has been considered technocratic by sources.[9] [10]
In March 2023, the City Council refused to validate the 8,000 signatures collected by Recover Madrid to run for election, unless there was a photocopy of the identity card of every signature – a requirement that is not asked for political parties.[11] The Spanish Ombudsman, Ángel Gabilondo, upheld Recover Madrid's appeal and requested for alternative forms of verification to be found.[12] On 28 April, with the controversy unresolved, Recover Madrid declared that it would run as a political party.[13]
Recover Madrid received 6,436 votes in the election (0.39%), coming eighth overall and losing its seats. It received fewer votes than the signatures it had submitted to run in the elections.[14]
Notes and References
- News: Molina . Chema . Los cuatro concejales cercanos a Carmena rompen con Más Madrid: "Ningún partido nos va a imponer sus reglas". The four councillors close to Carmena break with Más Madrid: "No party is going to impose its rules on us". 31 March 2023 . . 4 March 2021 . Spanish.
- News: Jiménez . Elena . Los concejales disidentes de Más Madrid se integrarán en el Grupo Mixto en el Ayuntamiento. The councillors who are dissidents from Más Madrid will form a Mixed Group in the City Hall . 31 March 2023 . . 31 March 2021 . Spanish.
- News: Un concejal de Recupera Madrid renuncia al no estar de acuerdo con el apoyo a los presupuestos. A Recover Madrid councillor resigns due to not being in agreement with supporting the budget. 31 March 2023 . . . 27 December 2021 . Spanish.
- News: Más Madrid vuelve a ser el grupo mayoritario en Cibeles tras la renuncia de un edil de Recupera. Más Madrid is the biggest group in Cibeles again after the resignation of a Recupera councillor . 31 March 2023 . Europa Press . . 25 January 2022 . Spanish.
- News: Un juzgado anula la constitución del Grupo Mixto en el Ayuntamiento de Madrid y le condena a disolverlo. Court annuls the constitution of the Mixed Group in Madrid City Council and sentences it to be dissolved . 31 March 2023 . Público . Europa Press . 9 May 2022 . Spanish.
- News: Moreno . Marta . El penúltimo capítulo de otra ruptura en la izquierda madrileña: Recupera Madrid lleva a Más Madrid a los tribunales. The penultimate chapter of another rupture in Madrid's left wing: Recover Madrid takes Más Madrid to court . 31 March 2023 . Público . 3 June 2022 . Spanish.
- News: Marta Higueras seguirá como "independiente" en el Grupo Mixto: "No comparto la estrategia de Cueto y Calvo". Marta Higueras will continue as an "independent" in the Mixed Group: "I don't share Cueto and Calvo's strategy". 31 March 2023 . . 7 September 2022 . Spanish.
- News: Caballero . Fátima . Recupera Madrid presenta su agrupación de electores para el Ayuntamiento de la capital con Luis Cueto como candidato. Recover Madrid presents its grouping of electors for the capital's City Council with Luis Cueto as candidate. 31 March 2023 . elDiario.es . 30 January 2023 . Spanish.
- News: Calleja . Ignacio S. . Se busca concejal de Hacienda para Madrid por 101.811 euros al año. Razón: aquí. Wanted: Treasury councillor for Madrid for 101,811 euros per year. Reason: here . 31 March 2023 . . 29 March 2023 . Spanish.
- News: Madueno . Juan Diego . Los tecnócratas de izquierdas alistados en Recupera Madrid: "No es real la posibilidad de poner en marcha políticas ideológicamente neutras". The left-wing technocrats enlisted by Recover Madrid: "It's not possible to put into action policies that are ideologically neutral". 31 March 2023 . . 20 December 2022 . Spanish.
- News: Cibeles vota 'no' a que Recupera pueda presentar las 8.000 firmas necesarias sin ser acompañadas de fotocopia del DNI. Cibeles votes 'no' to Recupera being able to present the required 8,000 signatures without being accompanied by photocopies of identity cards. 31 March 2023 . Europa Press . 28 March 2023 . Spanish.
- News: Moraga . Carmen . El Defensor del Pueblo acepta la queja de Recupera Madrid sobre la verificación de los avales para concurrir a las elecciones. Ombudsman accepts Recover Madrid's complaint about verification of signatures for contesting the elections . 31 March 2023 . elDiario.es . 27 March 2023 . Spanish.
- News: Recupera Madrid concurrirá como partido y no como agrupación de electores . 3 May 2023 . Telemadrid . 28 April 2023 . Spanish.
- News: Cueto (Recupera) valora ser "la 8ª fuerza política" madrileña aunque cree que debieron "retirarse antes". Cueto (Recover) values being "the 8th political force" in Madrid although he believes that they should have "withdrawn earlier". 25 August 2023 . Europa Press . 30 May 2023 . Spanish.
