• 28-M Operation Alcalá: Ayuso uses its 260 million in investment and points to the elderly to try to recover the Complutense city

The 196,000 inhabitants of Alcalá de Henares probably live outside the political battle that has opened in their municipality in the face of the elections of 28-M. But both PP and PSOE have set the objective on the main municipality of the Corredor del Henares, in the eastern part of the region, because there is a good fishing ground with a changing political trend, where both right and left have been able to accumulate at some point the municipal power, important also at the regional level.

The balance right now is tilted to the left with the socialist Javier Rodríguez Palacios at the head of the City Council since 2015. But the alternation between the two main national parties has been a constant with 16 years of PSOE governments at the beginning of democracy and 12 of the PP at the beginning of the 2000s. And now each formation tries to bring the Complutense city closer to its territory.

The Socialists try to focus on "the management" of the current mayor while the PP looks towards the autonomous ones of the 4-M and tries to activate the voter with the presence of Ayuso, who in 2021, in the autonomic ones, reached up to 42.5% of votes, doubling the PSOE (19.9%). Already last February, when she moved the Governing Council to Alcalá, the regional president took out the 260 million euros that her Executive has invested in the last four years as an electoral exponent to recover the City Council and consolidate its good results in the regional polls.

Yesterday, at the presentation of candidates of the Corredor del Henares, where all the heads of the list of that area of the region intervened, the popular leader said that Alcalá is "one of the cities in the region" that, with the PSOE, "has lost the pulse" and has "problems of cleanliness, parking, security and shops have problems to open". "This is the municipality of the Community of Madrid where the regional government has invested the most," said the regional president, in a speech very similar to the one she already gave during the press conference of the Governing Council held in the municipality at the beginning of this year.

PP sources affirm that Alcalá is "one of the priority municipalities" for the party and consider that they have "real options" to produce "a political change" because their candidate, Judith Piquet is in "constant growth" since she was appointed to compete for mayor. "We really want there to be a change, and proof of this is the nervousness of the PSOE and the mayor himself," they point out from the popular dome. Yesterday the municipal candidate herself said that the current councilor of the PSOE r represents "the worst of sanchismo" and that he traces his strategy of having "a macro-government" with councils "without functions".

However, in the socialist ranks, they are "optimistic" with the situation they handle in their internal polls. In the team of Juan Lobato, who today will present the candidacies of the Corredor del Henares in the town, they take for granted a new municipal government for his party and a "probable" absolute majority, which would allow the secretary general to maintain one of the large municipalities in the east of the region. In fact, these polls, according to sources consulted, place the current mayor reaching that majority or being very close to it. Also in that equation, in the socialist ranks, they point to the probability that Ciudadanos, with whom they govern since December 2021, can maintain part of their representation and that both parties will understand each other again. Especially if the PSOE lacked a councillor or two.

Because in the team of the councilor they understand that thekey is in "the own brand of eight years of management", where they highlight as a fundamental factor the European funds that have reached the Consistory and that has allowed, for example, to pedestrianize a good part of the historic center and that thus the municipal funds could be allocated to other neighborhoods of the municipalities in basic issues such as lighting.

"It does not define me to go against anyone, nor am I Pedro Sánchez nor do I go against Ayuso, my thought is only focused on Alcalá de Henares and its neighbors," says Rodríguez Palacios in a telephone conversation with this newspaper.

  • PSOE
  • Alcalá de Henares
  • PP
  • Community of Madrid
  • Citizenry
  • Pedro Sanchez
  • Articles Pablo R. Roces

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