The PP rebellion in Madrid worsens: the director of the Spanish Ballet also resigns.

BarcelonaIsabel Díaz Ayuso dismissed her Education Minister, Emilio Viciana, on Monday, and the decision has had repercussions within the Madrid PP. On Wednesday, Antonio Castillo Algarra, one of the directors of the Spanish Ballet of the Community of Madrid and a close associate of the dismissed minister, resigned, as did the members of parliament who resigned on Tuesday, the so-called the popcornsIn fact, they were part of a theater group directed by Castillo Algarra himself, who is also an advisor to Ayuso. The decision came from "political consistency," for reasons unrelated to the Ballet, and according to Europa Press, further resignations are not ruled out. Furthermore, the Madrid government has also dismissed two directors general from the Ministry of Education: the Director General of Universities, Nicolás Javier Casas, and the Director General of Secondary Education, Vocational Training, and Special Education, María Luz Rodríguez de Llera Tejeda. The three Popular Party members of parliament who have resigned from the Madrid Assembly are: Pablo Posse, Mónica Lavín, and Carlota Pasarón. Posse was the first to announce his resignation, doing so during the Education Committee meeting held this morning in the Assembly. There, according to the EFE news agency, Posse—who until now was the PP's spokesperson for Education in the Madrid Assembly—also explained that these three resignations will not be the only ones, as two directors general of the regional ministry will also step down: Nicolás Javier Casas, Director General of Universities; and María Luz Rodríguez de Llera, Director General of Secondary Education, Vocational Training, and Special Education. Sources within the Madrid government assure that no other dismissals have been approved so far. According to the Madrid PP, the resignations of Posse, Lavín—until now the PP's spokesperson for Social Policy in the Assembly—and Pasarón—spokesperson for Youth—are due to "personal reasons" of the three deputies, but the fact is that the resignations came the very next morning. The first change in Ayuso's government apparently did not please the three PP deputies who left the Assembly. The now former Minister of Education confirmed on Tuesday that his resignation was "at his own request" and thanked the Madrid president in a message to X for the opportunity to have served in the position over the past few years. Mercedes Zarzalejo will replace Viciana. In fact, according to Europa Press, the new minister will also form her own team, and therefore some officials will not resign voluntarily. Posse indicated that two directors general would like to resign.

The change in leadership at the Madrid regional education ministry comes amid negotiations on the regional university law and the controversy surrounding the underfunding of public universitiesAccording to the Ayuso government, the change is motivated by a need for change and the implementation of a university model that, in Ayuso's opinion, the now former Minister of Education failed to lead. Specifically, the Madrid president had commissioned Viciana "more than two years ago" to develop "a program to support, strengthen, and modernize Madrid's universities," which she did not see fulfilled. Therefore, she "decided to give new impetus" to the Ministry with the appointment of Zarzalejo. The opposition has seized upon this first crisis of Ayuso's government, and both Más Madrid and the PSOE have agreed that the Madrid PP is "falling apart" after witnessing "the failure" of its education policy. Thus, the general secretary of the Madrid Socialists, Óscar López, wrote to X that "the dismissals and resignations" are happening because Ayuso "cannot bring the university rectors to heel with her sectarian university law." The spokesperson for Más Madrid in the Assembly, Manuela Bergerot, added that "Ayuso's enforcers are falling due to their failure in universities and in all areas of Madrid's public education system."