Spain's Government Delegate in Madrid resigns after being left off PSOE lists

Government Delegate in Madrid resigns after being left off PSOE's electoral lists

Francisco Martín, the Spanish Government's Delegate in Madrid, has submitted his resignation after PSOE excluded him from its Congress and Senate lists for the November 29 elections. The decision, first reported by the party itself, strips Martín of his parliamentary immunity at a time when parties such as Vox have already announced they will file lawsuits against him over his handling of the Sol square encampment. The news has come as a cold shower at the Delegation, which attributes his departure to the fact that "the conditions to continue exercising his responsibility no longer exist".

A senior official with no seat and no immunity

Martín's career has always been tied to Pedro Sánchez's orbit. He founded the Bancal de Rosas association, through which he raised funds for the campaign in the primaries for the party's leadership. His loyalty earned him the post of Government Delegate in Madrid, one of the hottest seats in the regional administration. Now that same loyalty has turned against him: without a parliamentary seat, he loses his immunity and is exposed to the ordinary courts.

According to a calculation circulating among those who trinc the party's day-to-day, Sánchez's leadership would have decided to sacrifice a senior official who had become a liability. The Sol encampment, which has lasted for weeks, has projected an image of police passivity that the opposition has exploited relentlessly. Vox has already filed complaints against the Delegate for alleged malfeasance, and without immunity the judicial path is now smoother.

The stab in the back during Madrid's primaries

The origin of his exclusion is not only the encampment. In Madrid's PSOE, Martín backed Enma López against Reyes Maroto in the primaries for the regional candidacy. That move earned him internal enemies who, according to party sources, have now collected their debt at the most delicate moment. Revenge is a dish best served cold, and in Madrid politics even more so.

Martín's departure is not an isolated case. In recent days several Deputy Delegates of the Government have also resigned, which points to a directive from the socialist leadership to clear the ground ahead of a more than likely electoral defeat. PSOE faces the loss of a huge number of public officials, and each resignation avoids additional wear and tear on the campaign.

The wave of resignations and the future of the encampment

With Martín out, the Government Delegation in Madrid falls into the hands of a new official who inherits two serious headaches: the Sol encampment and the strike called for November 11. The opposition demands that the square be cleared, but the Executive has preferred to keep a low profile to avoid further inflaming the streets. The new Delegate will have to decide whether to order police intervention or prolong the passivity, with the political cost that entails.

The resignation also exposes the fragility of hand-picked senior officials. Without a parliamentary seat, without immunity and with a lawsuit in sight, Francisco Martín goes from being a PSOE strongman in Madrid to a private citizen who will have to defend himself in court. That's how Spanish politics works: today you resign out of loyalty, tomorrow you appear in court out of obligation.

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Key facts:

• Francisco Martín resigns as Spain's Government Delegate in Madrid after being excluded from PSOE's lists for November 29.
• PSOE leaves him out of the Congress and the Senate, thus stripping him of his parliamentary immunity.
• Vox has already announced lawsuits against him over his handling of the Sol encampment.
• Several Deputy Delegates of the Government have resigned in recent days.

The open question now is whether the new Delegate will change strategy at Sol or maintain the same inaction as his predecessor. With the elections just around the corner, every decision counts.