Without the media glare that other politicians try to provide to her management, Minister Reyes Maroto has carried out an intense and quiet job as a fire extinguisher in the Government. In Moncloa, however, some important milestones in this regard stand out from her service record at the head of the Industry, Commerce and Tourism portfolio, which she assumed in June 2018. The last one, the agreement to save the investment of 10,000 million euros of the German multinational Volkswagen in Spain, which has guaranteed the construction of the gigafactory in Sagunt (Valencia), and the modernization of its factories in Martorell (Barcelona) and Landaban ( Pamplona). Last June, according to government sources, Maroto also managed to save the Spanish biscuit giant, Siro, and its factories in Castilla y León from bankruptcy. And even before, in November 2021, the minister was also a fundamental piece in reaching consensus between unions and employers in the metal collective agreement in Cádiz.
Born in 1973 in Medina del Campo (Valladolid), but resident in Alcorcón (Madrid), to whose socialist group she belongs, economist and university professor, Reyes Maroto arrived as a socialist deputy in the Madrid Assembly after the regional elections of May 2015. And, before the last elections, Ángel Gabilondo placed her as his future economic vice president in case he managed to evict Isabel Díaz Ayuso from her throne in Puerta del Sol. It could not be. But Pedro Sánchez has considered Maroto's name on numerous occasions as an option to attempt a socialist electoral resurrection in Madrid that is never achieved.
Now it will be, finally, the candidate of the PSOE to the mayorship of Madrid, according to the candidacy that has been confirmed this Monday. The challenge for Maroto is monumental, because in the last municipal elections, in May 2019, the candidacy of Pepu Hernández, the former national basketball coach signed by Pedro Sánchez, obtained the worst historical record of the socialists in the capital. With just 13.7% of the votes, the PSOE sank to fourth position, behind More Madrid, the Partido Popular and Ciudadanos.
“It is a political ant”, the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, highlighted today regarding Maroto's ability to work. And in the same sense, the Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, has stated that the new candidate for mayor of the capital "has no limit on hours, work, dedication and efficiency." The die is cast. End of the unknown. Maroto is the chosen one.
In Moncloa they warn, however, that the presentation of Maroto's candidacy as head of the PSOE poster for the municipal elections in Madrid, will not imply his immediate departure from the Executive. The Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, is also expected to be the electoral candidate in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. But Pedro Sánchez will not address a remodeling of his Executive for now, to replace Maroto and Darias. "They will be until the end," state government sources, referring to the start of the municipal election campaign to be held on May 28 next year. The government crisis, therefore, will still have to wait.
