The trip by the President of the Community of Madrid to Mexico, which began on Monday, May 4, 2026, aims to strengthen institutional, cultural, and commercial relations with the second-largest American investor in the region. However, this explanation has failed to convince opposition parties.
During the Board of Spokespersons meeting, the Más Madrid, PSOE-M, and Vox groups harshly criticized what they consider the president's “vacation.” The main point of contention is the inability to accumulate questions for future plenary sessions, given the president's absence from the session scheduled for Thursday, May 7.
“"We have been informed that since the President of the Community of Madrid is on her international tour and will not attend the Plenary this Thursday, the opposition spokespersons will not be able to ask questions for the Presidency Counselor to answer. From Vox, we have opposed this completely arbitrary decision by the Bureau, which we find totally intolerable."
The opposition laments that this situation constitutes a “gag order” and a “flagrant violation of the fundamental right to political participation.” A PSOE-M spokesperson also expressed indignation, noting that the president “is going to live it up in Mexico for ten days with the money of all Madrid residents, without giving any explanation, without publishing any data, and from the opposition, we cannot speak in the next Plenary.”
Meanwhile, an assistant spokesperson for Más Madrid added that “we have always maintained that we have the right to question the president, and if the president does not attend, what we must do is be able to accumulate that question for later. Of course, the Popular Party has maintained its usual veto and denied our right to do our job, as we expected they would.”
From the ranks of the Popular Party, a spokesperson denied the accusations, stating that the opposition is “lying” and that they are “very free to ask questions to the Government as always.” They also recalled that this will be the fifth time the president has missed a plenary session out of 179. Regarding the accumulation of questions, the spokesperson described the opposition's reaction as “feigned surprise,” as the Chamber's regulations do not allow for such a possibility.
Another point of criticism focuses on the alleged payment of 310,000 euros for the Community to be the “guest of honor” at the bullfighting fair in Aguascalientes, Mexico. A Vox spokesperson denounced that “the President of the Community of Madrid goes on tour, takes credit, and passes the bill to all Madrid residents. More than 300,000 euros of public money to buy space in Mexico and headlines in Spain.”
The Socialist Party has taken the opportunity to highlight the opacity of the expenses for the president's official trips, stating that “she does not make public any expenses for all the trips she makes: 18 international trips in the last three years for which absolutely nothing has been published on the Transparency Portal.” Furthermore, the president's attendance at the 'Celebration for Evangelization and Mestizaje in Mexico: Malinche and Cortés' event, alongside a producer and personal friend, was also mentioned.
