The Mayor of Madrid reproaches the Minister of Transport for criticising the Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1 held in Madring instead of focusing on local transport. He also censures that no minister attended the event.
The Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, accused the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, on Monday of acting like an "opinion maker" instead of fulfilling the responsibilities of his position. This response comes after Puente described the first Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1 held in Madring as a "real load of rubbish," as reported by pressdigital.es.
During an informative breakfast organised by the Club Siglo XXI, Almeida harshly responded to the minister:
Óscar Puente has become an opinion maker and some of us pay them to be ministers, not to be opinion makers.
The origin of the controversy lies in a message posted by Puente on the social network 'X', where he criticised the design of the Madrid circuit:
Without entering into political controversies, the Grand Prix itself has been a real load of rubbish. It's a Monaco 2, but faster. A train of cars from start to finish.
Almeida has sarcastically remarked that Puente "knows more about Formula 1 than about trains," although he believes Puente's assessment of the race is "deeply mistaken."
What he should know more about is trains than Formula 1, because that is what concerns us all at the moment, he added before urging him to focus on the operation of local trains in the capital.
For the mayor, the minister's reaction is an attempt to "tarnish Madrid's success" following the circuit's debut.
Since they are not capable of tarnishing Madrid's success, and they have tried by land, sea, and air, he has to throw out this tweet to see if he can achieve his 15 seconds of glory, he concluded.
Almeida also described the absence of any minister from the Spanish Government at the Grand Prix as a "lack of respect" towards Madrid and its residents, where King Felipe VI, Princess Leonor, and Infanta Sofía were present.
The mayor emphasised that the event was the Spanish Grand Prix and a "global showcase" for both the capital and the entire country, making the absence of ministerial representation unjustifiable.
There were also voters of theirs, I am sure, he indicated, before accusing the central Government of acting solely "in electoral terms."
Almeida concluded that the Government's actions represent a "lack of courtesy" and "certain institutional disloyalty," lamenting that Madrid cannot count on "even their courtesy or good manners" when celebrating major events.
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