Tuesday, the 4th of May, was election day in Madrid. After an extraordinary call from the former president of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, Madrid citizens were allowed to cast their ballots and elect their representatives once again before the ordinary period ended. The results followed the trends of the electoral polls, portraying a victory in favour of the elected president from Partido Popular (PP), Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
The instability and the constant struggle to reach agreements inside the political sphere of Spain caused trouble once again, leading to early elections being called in Madrid. Some autonomous communities specifically showed high degrees of political competitiveness and instability. Opposition political parties worked together to enforce a vote of no confidence in the different governments of each region, starting with the vote in Murcia.
Murcia is an autonomous community that hosted the first of many political disputes around the country. During the month of March 2021, a vote of no confidence was decreed by PSOE and Ciudadanos to remove PP from power. This was triggered, supposedly, due to irregularities in the vaccination process within the region.
Once the motion of censure was decreed in Murcia, other autonomous communities replicated it. This resulted in a series of political events that exploded around the country. Many other autonomous communities had the incentive to replicate this, and so they tried to do so. The externalities of the event reached the capital, Madrid, where the President, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, called for early elections and resigned from the government. This action dissolved the assembly and prevented the potential consequences that the decree of censure, which was already drafted, would bring to the party.
As a strategy, this was successful. Díaz Ayuso forced early elections in Madrid and remained in power in the meantime. However, the decision was highly controversial and many members of government and people from the opposition claimed this decision to be pre-planned and not for the best interest of the community.
After a series of revisions on whether the motion was stated before the resignation or vice versa, the final decision was made, giving the reason for the dismissal and the resignation of the assembly. Elections were finally called and scheduled for the 4th of May, 2021. According to the latest “Politico” electoral polls, PP was most likely to obtain a strong victory over their rivals, which came true.
The President of Madrid raised a strong statement against the political struggle with the left of Spain. She reiterated her position by saying “No puedo permitir que Madrid pierda su libertad” (“I cannot allow Spain to lose its freedom”). Moreover, Díaz Ayuso advised the citizens, after the dissolution of the assembly, to vote for “socialismo o libertad”, translated as socialism or liberty.
