Gonzalo Díaz, candidate of Más Madrid, IU and Verdes Equo in Collado Villalba, justifies the exclusion of Podemos due to lack of harmony and to avoid an unstable municipal group after the 2027 elections.
The candidate of Más Madrid, Izquierda Unida and Verdes Equo in Collado Villalba, Gonzalo Díaz, explained in an interview on Cadena SER with Adrián Carrillo the reasons why Podemos has been left out of the united left candidacy for the 2027 municipal elections. He indicated that the coalition prioritised stability and organisational solvency to prevent a future municipal group from becoming fragmented due to internal disagreements shortly after starting the mandate.
The lead candidate revealed that the inclusion of Podemos was considered at the beginning of the discussions, but was dismissed after analysing the contacts between the purple party and Izquierda Unida. "There were a series of conditions through the conversations that Izquierda Unida and Podemos held that suggested the functioning of the municipal group would not have been very stable," Díaz stated, according to information from cadenaser.com.
Díaz emphasised the need to avoid the mistakes of 2023, when the division into three lists to the left of the PSOE weakened the representation of this space and limited it to Más Madrid. Therefore, he defended forming a cohesive team: "We are not presenting ourselves in a coalition just for the sake of it; we are presenting ourselves first to win the City Council and second to carry out a political project, and for that you need stability, a good political project and capable people to carry it out." When asked if there is a lack of trust towards Podemos, the spokesperson argued: "What is clear is that if there is no good working harmony, it is difficult to carry out a common project."
Regarding the proposal from the City Council to purchase properties in the town centre from the state company Casa 47 for nearly one million euros, Díaz shares the need to provide the locality with a social rental housing park, but doubts the management of the governing team: "Experience tells us that this governing team is not very good at management. So, let's say almost everything they touch ends up being ruined."
The representative of the coalition has called for the unblocking of stalled developments such as that of calle Real 13-15 and questioned the electoral promise of the PSOE candidate, Andrés Villa, to build more than 90 protected homes: "A flat is not built overnight. Building 90 homes, we would love to have a button that you press on a Friday and by Monday they are done." Instead, he has proposed establishing a municipal housing office that offers mediation, guaranteed rent collection, and tax bonuses on IBI for individuals.
Díaz also reviewed the parliamentary setback of the local government in the last plenary session, where the modification of the P-29 polygon fell with 14 votes against, one abstention, and 10 votes in favour. The candidate considers it unfeasible to complete the processing this term after the strategic environmental assessment expires in 2024, and criticises the Popular Party for intending to reject the claims of neighbours and unions without addressing the new requirements from the Community of Madrid regarding noise, mobility, and flood-prone areas: "They themselves, due to their botched job, have made a mess of the procedure, they are harming the city."
Finally, the spokesperson accused the Popular Party of rushing electoral paving while structural facilities remain blocked. He emphasised that the Kike Blas pavilion and the multipurpose track will not be ready in time, and that the renaturalisation of the Guadarrama River has only one section completed against the expected deadline of January 1.
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