The mayor demands an urgent meeting of the Board to regain possession of the Escuelas Aguirre building, occupied since the deadline expired on September 1. He warns of "structural problems" and risks to the physical integrity of individuals.
The Madrid City Council is still unable to regain possession of the Escuelas Aguirre building, home to Casa Árabe, after the deadline set by the City Council for vacating it expired on September 1. The mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, has again called for an urgent meeting of the Board of the organisation to formalise the exit, as he stated this Wednesday.
The mayor maintains that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is keeping the property in a situation he describes as illegal occupation. The information, reported by Libertad Digital, indicates that Foreign Affairs has communicated to the City Council by letter that this occupation cannot be considered illegal until the Board meets and the exit of the Community of Madrid is formalised.
But they are not the ones calling it; they are the ones who have to call it and they are not doing so. They should have called it by now.
Almeida has insisted that the ball is in the Ministry's court: "When the Board is convened, it will cease to be an occupier," he summarised, maintaining the term he previously used weeks ago to refer to Minister José Manuel Albares.
The condition of the building is another focus of the mayor's intervention, who has warned of "serious maintenance problems" and "structural problems at this moment." At this point, he issued a direct warning to the Foreign Minister: "Albares is putting the physical integrity of all those people at risk. And I say this in front of the media, because when any accident happens, which we hope does not occur, but if any accident happens, I will have no problem saying: 'I said it.'"
These statements come a day after the delegate for Culture, Tourism and Sport, Marta Rivera de la Cruz, revealed that Irene Lozano, during her time at the helm of Casa Árabe, planned to rent Escuelas Aguirre and increased personnel expenses by 87%.
Almeida also had words for the minister's agenda, reproaching him for filming videos in New York during the United Nations General Assembly. "As a suggestion, representing the Kingdom of Spain, perhaps making a fool of oneself with the videos he records of himself, so that he is filmed on the street, is not what best represents us at such an important event," he added.
The unblocking now depends on the convening of the Board, the body that must formalise the exit of the Community of Madrid and allow the City Council to regain possession of the Escuelas Aguirre building.
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