Reyes Maroto punishes Enma López after she challenged her in the PSOE primaries in Madrid and relegates her to councilor without responsibilities

Reyes Maroto has removed Enma López from the leadership of the Socialist Municipal Group in the Madrid City Council just a month and a half after defeating her in the primaries. The councilwoman loses the deputy spokesperson position and the coordination of the PSOE neighborhood representatives in the district boards, two responsibilities that placed her at the political and organizational core of the group.

The move leaves López as a councilwoman without executive functions and conveys a message that is difficult to avoid. Maroto has decided to remove from leadership the colleague who dared to challenge her for the socialist candidacy for the 2027 municipal elections and who obtained the support of more than 45% of the militancy that participated in the vote.

Enma López herself has communicated the change through a letter disseminated on her social networks. "It is a decision that I accept, as it could not be otherwise, but which I do not share," she stated. The councilwoman also made clear her disagreement with the substance of the measure, which she considers far from her way of understanding "primaries and the internal democracy of parties."

López recalled her seven years of work in the City Council and defended that her participation in the internal process was born precisely from her commitment to the PSOE and to the residents of Madrid. Her candidacy managed to open a real competition against the option backed by the socialist leaderships and gathered 841 votes, compared to the 1,045 obtained by Maroto.

The publication has received numerous public messages of support for López and criticism of Maroto's decision. A good part of the reactions focuses on the same contradiction raised by the councilwoman. Primaries conceived to listen to the militancy end with the defeated candidate out of leadership despite representing almost half of those who voted.

The 45% that Maroto leaves out

The political relationship between both leaders goes back a long way. Enma López was the number three on Reyes Maroto's candidacy in 2023 and directed that electoral campaign. In recent years, she has taken on a large part of the municipal opposition work and has combined that task with various responsibilities in the federal leadership of the PSOE.

That trajectory made her candidacy an alternative with her own experience, a strong base among the militants, and knowledge of the City Council. López presented the primaries as an opportunity to rekindle hope in a city where socialists remain far from contesting the Mayor's office. Her campaign managed to overcome the endorsement filter and ended up gathering much greater support than initially expected by the sectors aligned with Maroto.

The current socialist candidate even described that decision as a "disloyalty". However, during the campaign, she also assured that the primaries should serve to strengthen the party and defended that López would continue to be part of her team. "She will have her place with me," she affirmed then in an interview.

The decision announced this Thursday contradicts that commitment. Maroto has chosen to dispense with her former right-hand woman and has left out of the leadership the voice that represented the main alternative current within the PSOE of the capital. The replacement is thus interpreted as a political price for having competed, especially after a result that showed a party much more divided than the official candidacy reflected.

The contrast also extends to the attitude maintained by Enma López during the primaries. The councilwoman assured that, if she won, she would integrate Maroto into her team because the PSOE "cannot afford to waste talent". After learning of her dismissal, she confirmed that she will continue working in the City Council and will assume the tasks assigned to her by the group.

A leadership for 2027 without Enma López

Maroto has appointed Meritxell Tizón as the new deputy spokesperson and Jorge Donaire as the coordinator of the districts. The municipal group has presented the reshuffle as the beginning of a stage aimed at strengthening internal coordination and preparing the socialist alternative for the May 2027 elections.

The official statement speaks of strengthening the opposition to José Luis Martínez-Almeida and building a recognizable project for Madrid. In that explanation, there is hardly any room left for the work carried out by Enma López or for the support she received in the internal polls.

The exclusion comes at a particularly delicate moment for Madrid socialism. The PSOE has not governed the capital since 1989 and in the 2023 municipal elections it once again came in third place, behind Más Madrid and far from the absolute majority achieved by Almeida. Facing this challenge by reducing the group's plurality and cornering one of its most recognizable leaders hardly helps to expand the electoral space.

Enma López will keep her seat and continue in Cibeles. "I will do it, as always, with the enthusiasm and dedication that the position, my party, its militants, and the people of Madrid deserve," she assured.