What was presented as the

State of the City Debate

ended up becoming a battery of announcements by the mayor of the capital, José Luis Martínez-Almeida.

Because during more than an hour of intervention, the alderman broke down up to

10 new projects

that the City Council will develop in its last year in office before the

municipal elections

are held .

Among them the creation of a

22nd district

for the capital, which will integrate

the Cinco Torres area and Madrid Nuevo Norte

;

the immediate transfer of the five plots, which make up the Olympic ring, to

Atlético de Madrid

so that it can develop its sports city together with the Wanda Metropolitano;

the

municipalization of BiciMad

, or the installation of new

security cameras

in the Plaza del Dos de Mayo, in Malasaña, and in Plaza Elíptica.

"Madrid is one of those few places in the world that is better off in 2022 than in 2019 after passing a pandemic," said Almeida, who highlighted

"unity of action"

and "work in unison" as "key" of the City Council and the Community of Madrid.

And the alderman did it before the president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, present for the first time in a Debate on the State of the City, during the intervention of the first mayor.

The mayor began his battery of announcements pointing out that the municipal government will submit to the Plenary of Cibeles the modification of the organic regulation of the Plenary to create a 22nd district in the city: the

Financial District

, which will include the Five Towers and Madrid Nuevo Norte.

A proposal, already raised in Carmena's stage, which, according to what he indicated, will expand "Madrid's ability to

compete with the City in London or with the financial district of Frankfurt

".

"This financial district that we are going to create is going to allow us to continue to maintain a privileged position and send

a message to investors

of exponential growth", remarked the councilor before giving way to his second project: the

reform of the surroundings of Santa María de the head

.

Although the councilor assured that there, in the vicinity of the Atocha station, a

Low Emissions Zone

would be installed , in the Works Area they affirm that the measure will not be such, that remodeling works will be carried out to gain space for the pedestrians, but it will not be ZBE.

Athletic City of Madrid

Another of the announcements made by Almeida is that the City Council will give the green light "in the coming weeks" to the

concession for 75 years to Atlético de Madrid of three of the plots that make up the Olympic ring

.

Thus, the club will be able to develop its sports city in the surroundings of the Wanda, a project that has been stopped for years and that will involve an

investment of 200 million

euros by the rojiblanco club, which also includes sports facilities in the two remaining plots for the district of San Blas Canillejas and the creation of two exit accesses from the Barrio de las Rejas to the M-40.

In addition, the mayor also remarked that at this end of his mandate

, remodeling works will be carried out on the Jacinto Benavente, Ministriles and Guardia de Corps squares

, in Centro and Moncloa;

the creation in October of

the Landscape of Light Interpretation Center

, taking advantage of the candidacy of the Prado-Recoletos Axis as a World Heritage Site, in CentroCentro;

the implementation of the

Madrid City Card

so that tourists bring together transport, gastronomic and cultural options in the same format, and the creation of a

center for the elderly in the Palacio de la Duquesa de Sueca

, next to the Plaza de Tirso de Molina.

In terms of mobility, the mayor announced the

municipalization of BiciMad

, which "will allow for the first time" that the service reaches the 21 districts of the capital.

Within this project, it is intended to increase the bicycle stations throughout the city from 258 to 620 and

multiply these vehicles from 2,960 to 7,500

before the end of the legislature.

For the final part of his speech, the councilor wanted to leave his proposals for two of the issues that have marked his three years in office: cleaning and security.

In the second of them, the City Council will continue with the installation of

security cameras

in the street and in this it will be up to the Plaza del Dos de Mayo, in Malasaña, and the Plaza Elíptica, "two conflictive points" of the capital, according to Almeida defined them.

The Consistory, as explained, is also in talks with the Government Delegation to extend them to other districts such as Usera and Villaverde in the face

of "the problem of Latin gangs

. "

In this area, the mayor stated that the new guardian agents that the Consistory will have will be assigned to the districts affected by the proliferation of these gangs.

Finally, in terms of cleanliness, the City Council

will "harshly" punish behaviors such as drinking bottles or cleaning graffiti

.

That is why the Consistory will increase the sanctions in the first case from 600 to 2,000 euros for those who leave remains in the parks and up to 3,000 in those who make graffiti.

In this second area, a contract will be implemented so that SELUR is in charge of cleaning these with an increase of 150%, according to the figures given by the mayor.

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  • Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida

  • Atletico Madrid

  • Madrid New North