The horse diapers that sparked a revolt against Andrea Levy

MadridThe debate in a recent plenary session of the Retiro district of Madrid, chaired by the Catalan Andrea Levy, on a proposal by the PSOE for horses that pass through the park to wear diapers has sparked a revolt against the PP councilor. The initiative, which even the socialists have described as "anecdotal", did not prosper, but Levy's attitude on Tuesday during the discussion has been the straw that broke the camel's back that had been filling up for months. PSOE and Más Madrid left the plenary session in protest at the "continuous lack of respect" and the "arrogance and hostility" of the councilor and have come out in force against the former member of Parliament accusing her of "repeatedly mistreating them". The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, closed ranks with Levy and ignored the request made by the opposition to "call her to order or assign her other tasks".

The two left-wing parties in Madrid are not the only ones complaining about Levy. The Retiro Norte neighbourhood association, which was present during the controversial plenary session, has joined in criticising X, describing the councillor's behaviour as "regrettable" and "unworthy of a public office", who also confronted some residents. "They came to start a fight", replied Levy after part of the public left the room. In a conversation with ARA, the secretary of the aforementioned association, Félix Sánchez, who witnessed the events, says that it is not a specific problem of this session. "It is difficult and unpleasant to deal with her. It is a problem of personal attitude, it is not something political", he says. Sánchez adds that, apart from "the unnecessarily negative manner" that Levy uses, there is also what seems to be "disinterest" in the task. The association complains that she does not meet with neighbourhood organisations with the "appropriate" frequency and that it is not unusual to see her busy with her mobile phone while presiding over district plenary sessions. "She lives it like an exile. If she doesn't like it, she should do something else," Sánchez asks.

In the previous municipal legislature, the Catalan one was Almeida's number two and was part of his executive as head of the culture area. After the 2023 elections, in which she ran in thirteenth position, the mayor of Madrid chose not to reincorporate her into his government and assigned her the position of councilor president of the Retiro district council, which was interpreted as a kind of consolation prize. Levy became part of the state leadership of the PP as deputy secretary of studies and programs between 2015 and 2019 and later as president of the committee of rights and guarantees. She rose with Mariano Rajoy and was dismounted with the fall of Pablo Casado in 2022, when she resigned a few days after the war broke out between the former popular leader and Isabel Díaz Ayuso. This is not the first time in her political career that her manner has caused unrest and she has been accused of having a bad attitude, as happened when she was still a member of Parliament, in 2015, in those images that went viral because of how she was conspicuously chewing gum and gesticulating during a plenary session.

The feces of Retiro Park

Levy has therefore gone from being in the political front line to ordering the debate on a proposal on how to manage the dirt caused in the Retiro park by the faeces of the police horses. The residents' association itself points out that, although it is a "minor problem", it is an issue that has been discussed for some time in the district. "Whether it is with diapers or with more cleaning, someone must take charge," says Sánchez, who sees it as "absurd" to use it to "mock" and regrets that a district plenary session, where these types of issues should be addressed, becomes a "tense" and confrontational space due to Levy's management.

The PSOE, which did not obtain the support of any other group with the proposal to put restraint systems on animals so that faeces do not fall to the ground, denounced to Almeida that someone leaked the initiative to a media outlet "close to the PP" before it reached the plenary session in order to "ridicule" it. Levy attacked the socialists, stating that they have "constipation of ideas" and making light of the leak, encouraging them to take the case "to the Attorney General of the State when he is cleared of charges."

Almeida has joined the strategy used by Levy. "If the great proposal that has come out of the PSOE in recent months for the city of Madrid is to put diapers on horses, the problem is not Andrea Levy but Reyes Maroto [the socialist spokesperson in the City Council]," said Almeida the day after the plenary session, who also endorsed the tone of the popular councillor. "The PSOE has very thin skin," she insisted, taking for granted Levy's continuity and ruling out the possibility of resolving the issue of faeces with diapers.