BUENOS AIRES — Few reach the peak of their careers after retirement. But that is just what happened to Manuela Carmena, 71, a retired judge with a communist past who was elected mayor of Madrid last May in local and regional elections that shook Spain’s political establishment.
Elected with the votes of the young and disaffected, not to mention all those angry with corruption, relentless austerity and the perceived arrogance of Spain’s two main parties, Carmena’s victory put an end to two decades of unbroken conservative rule in the Spanish capital.
An independent candidate, she received decisive backing from Podemos, Spain’s leading protest party trying to break the country’s two-party mold. Now, the capital’s residents are waiting to see the fruits of her promises to “change the ways of traditional politics.” Carmena spoke to Clarín on a recent trip to Argentina.
CLARIN: Describe your sudden “un-retirement?”
MANUELA CARMENA: To tell you the truth, I wasn’t in any political party and had no interest in holding public office. When they suggested I become a candidate, for two-and-a-half months I said no. I really was unbelievably happy doing my own thing. I kept saying: no, no. But in February, we were chatting among friends on the prospects of the conservative Popular Party candidate Esperanza Aguirre winning again, which would bring back those classic political figures closely tied to corruption. I thought I had a duty to help. So I accepted for a specific period: four years in the mayor’s office, doing the best I could and that’s it.
How was the transition from one administration to the other?
I found a city government where absolutely everything was privatized. Everything has been outsourced — it doesn’t make sense. The tourist agencies, for example, have been contracted out. It is such an important economic engine and provides a lot of work. So the companies determine the focus of tourism, not the municipality.
