Florentino Pérez's rival asks to talk before the elections

MadridEnrique Riquelme Vives (Coix, Alicante, 1989) is the talk of the town in Madrid since this Tuesday afternoon Real Madrid president, Florentino Pérez, implicitly mentioned him during the highly commented press conference in which he announced early elections. At one point during the appearance, the veteran white director spoke of a businessman with a "South American" accent, although he later qualified that he had a "Mexican" accent, who was willing to challenge him for the presidency of Real Madrid. He was referring to Riquelme, who this Wednesday night did not hesitate to respond to Florentino Pérez by asking for more time before the elections. "I would like to convey our full willingness to dialogue together in the coming days and agree on a broader process that allows and fosters the real participation of members and madridistas," the businessman expressed in a letter published in Marca.Unlike the tone of the white club president, Riquelme acknowledges the "leadership" of these years and the fact of having "dominated world football". At the same time, he asks for "time, serenity and reflection" and puts the current electoral process in his sights: "It does not correspond with the promotion of participation and listening that modern democracies require".

The truth, however, is that this businessman is from a town in the Valencian Country with just over 7,000 inhabitants, despite his professional career having forced him to travel on numerous occasions to Latin America, especially to Mexico, Ecuador, Chile, Panama, and Colombia. Riquelme presides over Cox, a water and renewable energy company – named after his hometown – with a strong presence in the region where, in fact, he took his first steps as an entrepreneur: first in Brazil, coinciding with the World Cup and the Olympic Games, and later in Panama, where he founded the photovoltaic company Grupo Sol. In 2014, back in Spain, he founded Cox, and only ten years later has he managed to take it to the stock market. "The sun king." That's how Forbes magazine baptized him in 2018, when they dedicated a cover to him.

"I preside over a company of Spanish origin, but with a Latin American soul," Riquelme himself summarized three months ago, during his speech at the International Economic Forum for Latin America and the Caribbean. In fact, in the case of Mexico, he finalized the purchase of 100% of Iberdrola's subsidiary in the country this April for 3.7 billion dollars – perhaps that's why Florentino Pérez spoke of a "Mexican" accent.

in the year 2018, when she dedicated a cover to him.

A pair to the club's board

Riquelme has been a member of the white club for more than 20 years and, considering the stratospheric growth of his business, it is considered feasible that he has the capacity to present the 187 million euros in the form of a guarantee that any candidate for the presidency of Real Madrid must have (15% of the club's budget, as stated in the statutes). He is attributed a net worth of 460 million euros, according to the annual ranking of El Mundo. In fact, in the letter to Marca, Riquelme assures that "he meets all the economic and seniority requirements to present a candidacy".

This path has been aided by the fact that he comes from a wealthy family from Alicante and that he has obtained multi-million dollar income thanks to the real estate, construction, and agri-food businesses. But also by the fact that he had a father –Enrique Riquelme de la Torre– who instilled in him the passion for the white club, something he boasts about on his Instagram profile. Riquelme's father was on the Real Madrid board during Ramón Calderón's tenure between 2006 and 2009 and later with Vicente Boluda, when he was interim president.

, Riquelme assures that "he meets all the economic and seniority requirements to present a candidacy".

Aquí Medios de Comunicación. Him and who else?

But this Tuesday Florentino Pérez spoke in the plural: "Some children who want to run [to preside over Real Madrid] [...], who speak with the electricity companies [to have the guarantee]". And he challenged them to do it: "This is the opportunity I offer them".

Here, all eyes are on the connection between Cox and Iberdrola, and specifically on who has led the sale of the electricity company's subsidiary in Mexico: David Mesonero (Salamanca, 1980), a director at the company presided over by Ignacio Sánchez Galán, with whom Florentino has a historic rivalry marked by the attempt to acquire through ACS, the construction company he also presides over, an important part of Iberdrola.

A businessman linked to the world of football consulted by ARA believes that it is not difficult to "find executives with sufficient assets to preside over Madrid". The problem, he believes, is "the power of influence" that Florentino has. This could be Riquelme's ultimate test, who in any case does not hide his boasting about his network of "vip friends –from Antonio Banderas to Iker Casillas–, nor about being an ally of the Vatican. "I have the opportunity to share all the work and effort with the Pope [Francis] about three times a year", Riquelme explained in 2020 about Cox's role with the Scholas Foundation.