More than half of the 70 PP deputies in the Madrid Assembly have not reached ten initiatives in three years of legislature. Nine of them have not even made their debut, according to the latest parliamentary activity data.
The Madrid Assembly has three years of legislature with a very uneven balance in the activity of its deputies. While opposition groups accumulate thousands of initiatives, a significant portion of representatives from the Popular Party, the only party in the regional government, present almost testimonial figures. According to official data from the Chamber, more than half of the 70 Popular deputies do not reach ten initiatives during this period, and nine of them have not registered a single one.
These figures exclude the regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the councillors with seats, the president and vice-president of the Assembly, as well as deputies who took office in recent months. Among the uninitiated parliamentarians are prominent figures such as the number 2 of the PP of Madrid, Alfonso Serrano, former councillor Enrique Ruiz Escudero, and Marimar Blanco, all of whom are also senators by regional designation.
The contrast with the opposition is stark. Más Madrid leads the ranking with 28,318 initiatives, followed by the PSOE with 26,006 and Vox with 9,525. In the PP, the total of its 70 deputies does not reach a thousand. Deputy Ana Cuartero from Vox holds the individual record with 4,496 initiatives, more than half of her group's total. She is followed by Diana Carol Paredes from Más Madrid with 4,027. In the PP, spokesperson Carlos Díaz-Pache tops the list with 142 initiatives, closely followed by other deputies who hover around the hundred mark.
Parliamentary sources explain that the disparity is due to the dynamics of the Chamber itself. Legislative activity is largely a consequence of opposition work, so deputies from the governing party ask fewer questions. The representativeness of each group also plays a role: Más Madrid and PSOE each have 27 seats, while Vox has 11. Nevertheless, the PP defends the work of its representatives and asserts that the quality of parliamentary work is not measured solely by the volume of registered initiatives.
“The work within the group is not individual, and each person's functions contribute to the good development of legislative activity and support for the Government,” popular sources state. They add that some deputies are more focused on the initiatives brought to Plenary and committees, while others dedicate themselves to territorial matters and contact with mayors and spokespersons in municipalities. This work, they claim, is not reflected in the Assembly's statistics.
The data has reopened the debate about the size of the regional Chamber. PP and Vox agreed in the last legislature to reduce the number of deputies from 135 to 91, but the measure requires amending the Statute of Autonomy, which needs a majority in Congress that currently does not exist. President Ayuso has suspended any initiative that requires the endorsement of Pedro Sánchez's Government and its partners, arguing that she will not leave matters related to the Community of Madrid in their hands.
Among the shelved reforms are changes to the system for electing judges of the High Court of Justice, the elimination of the term “disabled” from the Statute, the renaming of the Assembly, or the inclusion of the figure of the decree-law. Meanwhile, parliamentary activity continues to show two speeds: a hyperactive opposition and a governing group with a testimonial presence in official records.
For the citizens of the Community of Madrid, this data raises questions about the efficiency and dedication of their representatives. The Assembly, with 135 deputies, is one of the largest in Spain, and the debate over its reduction remains latent. For now, President Ayuso has chosen not to promote changes that depend on Congress, awaiting a more favourable political scenario.
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