The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, has celebrated the recovery of the "normality of relations" of the capital with the city of Barcelona and is committed to "competitive dialogue", after having had a first meeting with his Barcelona counterpart , Jaume Collboni, at the Cibeles Palace. A meeting for which the Madrid native thanked the Catalan and promised to return the visit.
"Madrid and Barcelona have to have what is called a competitive dialogue, and therefore be in dialogue but also knowing, logically, that each of us wants to always be providing the best services to our citizens, that we want to attract economic investment, that we want to lead debates such as sustainability or digital transformation and therefore, everything from dialogue but understanding competition not as negative and harmful," Almeida stated before journalists from the Ateneo de Madrid.
Almeida's cabinet has assessed the meeting as "positive" and "cordial", while emphasizing that "what is strange" was the absence of meetings between both representatives, in direct reference to the former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau. Recognizing himself as "part" of that dysfunction, Almeida himself has committed to recovering normality and the relationship "because it is good for all of us."
Asked about the reasons for this distancing, the Madrid councilor preferred to "look with confidence towards the future" rather than "looking back."
Despite the programmatic differences of the popular and the socialist, Almeida and Collboni have addressed common issues that affect both cities such as the regulatory framework, public transportation or mobility issues, among others. Both cities have "common problems" so they must implement "common solutions," Almeida added.
