The PSOE plays the Madrid primaries between the continuity of Reyes Maroto and the "It's time" of Enma López

The PSOE of Madrid will have real primaries in the capital. Reyes Maroto, current socialist spokesperson in the City Council, has formalized this Friday her pre-candidacy to repeat as head of the list in 2027. Facing her will be Enma López, her until now number two in Cibeles, who has shaken the internal board with a fresher, more visual campaign supported by a direct slogan: “It's time”.

The pulse is not minor. Madrid socialism has not governed the Madrid City Council since 1989 and arrives at these primaries after another complicated cycle. In 2023, Maroto obtained 11 councilors, falling behind Más Madrid and far from the absolute majority of José Luis Martínez-Almeida. Now the militancy will have to choose whether to maintain the commitment to continuity or to open a new stage with López.

Maroto starts as the most organic and recognizable option for Ferraz. Former minister, municipal spokesperson and general secretary of the PSOE Madrid City, she has defended from the Plaza de la Villa that her project should not “start from scratch every four years”. López, for her part, has managed to place in just a few days a message of internal change that connects with a simple question: “How long has it been since you felt excited?”.

Maroto claims continuity and “given word”

Reyes Maroto has presented her pre-candidacy surrounded by militants and several councilors from the Socialist Municipal Group, including Enrique Rico, Pedro Barrero, Ana Isabel Lima, Emilia Martínez, Ignacio Benito and Meritxell Tizón. Her speech has revolved around three ideas: “commitment, constancy and trust”.

“My place is in Madrid”, affirmed the former minister, who wanted to distance herself from those who doubted in 2023 that she would stay in municipal politics after the elections. Maroto maintains that she has kept her word, that she has worked in the neighborhoods and in the groups, and that the PSOE needs to give continuity to the project she started against the Almeida Government.

The socialist spokesperson has avoided criticizing Enma López and has said that she faces the primaries “with great serenity.” Even so, her message points to the center of the internal debate. Maroto defends experience, structure, and stability. She wants the party members to see her candidacy as a safe bet to reach 2027 with accumulated work and an already established team.

Enma López’s “It’s time” shakes up the race

Enma López arrives with a different tone. Her campaign has opted for a pop aesthetic, very recognizable posters, and a less organic language than usual in the Madrid PSOE. On her website, concepts such as joy, future, solutions, empathy, fresh air, and illusion appear, in addition to a phrase that summarizes the approach of her pre-candidacy: “I only want to love you as they never loved you, Madrid.”

The councilwoman, born in Vigo and based in Madrid for two decades, has built her profile in the City Council based on budgetary and neighborhood work. In an interview with elDiario.es, López defended that the time has come to “get closer to all those people who vote for the PSOE in general elections, but not in Madrid.” There she places one of the keys to her candidacy: converting progressive sympathy into municipal votes.

López looks especially at districts with high abstention and a strong need for public policy, such as Carabanchel, Puente de Vallecas, Latina, or Usera. Her diagnosis is that Madrid needs a City Council that cares more, listens more, and stops governing “against its citizens.” She has also insisted that she can provide “an extra dose of empathy, communication, work, and knowledge of the city.”

Housing, neighborhoods, and the challenge of competing again

Both candidacies agree that housing will be the main axis of the municipal battle. Maroto has placed access to housing, the climate emergency, and the abandonment of neighborhoods among her priorities. López has gone a step further in tone and proposes a city “that you can afford,” where rent, energy, or transport do not consume the daily lives of Madrid residents.

The pre-candidate of “It’s time” speaks of building more, rehabilitating better, densifying with a social function, and always keeping public what is built with public resources. She also focuses on mobility, the bus network, safe bike lanes, the climate control of homes and schools, energy communities, and a culture that leaves the center and reaches all neighborhoods.

The underlying challenge remains the same for either of them. The PSOE not only has to discuss who heads the list. It has to regain ground against Más Madrid, break the PP's absolute majority, and become competitive again in a city where Almeida governs comfortably from Cibeles.

Endorsements from this Saturday and voting on July 19

The deadline to submit pre-candidacies ends this Friday. From July 4 to 11, Maroto and López must gather the necessary endorsements to formally become candidates. The internal campaign will be held between July 12 and 18, and the first vote will be on Sunday, July 19.

If neither manages to win in the first round, there will be a second vote on July 26. In parallel, the PSOE-M will also have primaries for the Community of Madrid, with Óscar López against lawyer Silvia López Quivira.

The municipal battle is already open. Maroto asks for continuity so as not to throw away the work done since 2023. Enma López asks for new air for the PSOE to inspire again in a city that has been out of its reach for too long.