Podemos Parla has announced that it is considering referring the allocation file of festive booths to Más Madrid to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor, as it believes that the City Council has allowed the party to use its municipal office as a social headquarters to circumvent the rules.
The controversy erupted after the City Council of Parla, governed by Más Madrid, awarded this formation a booth for the Fiestas del Agua and the Patronal Festivals of 2026. Podemos argues that the party does not meet the requirement of having a physical headquarters in the municipality, one of the key points of the rules approved on April 15 through Decree 2460.
A municipal office as the party's headquarters
The rules of the call establish that the requesting political parties and unions must have roots in the municipality and a social headquarters in Parla. Furthermore, the exclusions section expressly states that those formations without a physical headquarters in the city cannot access the booths.
Given the limitation of available spaces — ten booths for the Fiestas del Agua and seventeen for the Patronal Festivals — the City Council held a draw on May 8 at the Casa de la Cultura. Podemos later detected what it considers possible violations and submitted two documents on May 22 requesting that Más Madrid provide the documentation proving the existence of a social headquarters in the municipality.
“If the rules clearly state what requirements must be met, the minimum that can be demanded is that they are respected,” said Podemos Parla spokesperson, Carla Escudero Valero.
The City Council made an official request on June 3. The response arrived on the 17th, but, according to Podemos, it was submitted by the Más Madrid Municipal Group and not by the political party as a legal entity. In that response, the institutional office assigned to the municipal group within the City Council of Parla for carrying out its political activities was indicated as the physical headquarters. The subsequent municipal resolution accepted this office as valid to meet the requirement established in the rules.
“Today it is Más Madrid, tomorrow it could be any group”
For Podemos, this decision improperly equates a political party with a municipal group, two structures that, as they point out, have different nature and functions. Escudero has insisted that the complaint does not stem from an ideological dispute with Más Madrid, but from the need to ensure that the rules are applied equally to all entities.
The purple formation argues that a municipal group is an institutional structure funded with public resources and intended for the exercise of political representation within the City Council, while a party is an independent legal entity with its own organization, personality, and headquarters. In their view, accepting a municipal office as a party's headquarters sets a precedent for the unequal application of the rules.
“The issue is not who receives the booth, but how an interpretation is forced to justify something that is objectively not proven. Today it is Más Madrid, tomorrow it could be any association or group,” stated Escudero.
Podemos considers going to Anti-Corruption
Podemos Parla has announced that it is analysing all the documentation and the administrative resolution to decide whether to refer it to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor. The formation wants the Public Prosecutor to assess whether the facts could fit into possible cases of administrative arbitrariness, abuse of power, or preferential treatment.
“One cannot govern by reinterpreting the rules based on who the beneficiary is. That erodes public trust and degrades equal treatment among organizations,” concluded Escudero.
The complaint thus opens a new political front in Parla regarding the allocation of festive booths and the interpretation that the municipal government has made of its own rules. The residents of Parla, who in previous years have seen how political booths became meeting points during the festivities, are closely following the matter, which could set a legal precedent for future calls. Podemos has indicated that if it ultimately goes to the Prosecutor's Office, it will request an investigation into whether there has been abuse of power by the governing team.
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