Villacís met with Bendodo last week to talk about his possible jump to the PP

They met on Monday in a cafeteria near Genoa and the ‘number three of Feijo’ asked him to reach an agreement with Almeida before taking the “step”

• politics Villacs’s challenge frustrates the refounding of Ciudadanos: “I could have said it before”
• citizens The PP asks Villacs to decide now: “She has to give him the last push”

The rapprochement between Begoa Villacs and the PP goes beyond the statements by the deputy mayor of Madrid on the freedom of choice for Ciudadanos (Cs) candidates. And beyond the “open doors” that teach him so much from Genoa. As you have learned THE WORLDthe leader of Cs in the capital met last Monday afternoon with the general coordinator of the popular, Elias Bendodo. And they talked about his possible move into the ranks of the main opposition party.

This was revealed to this newspaper by one of the people who saw them together in a cafeteria near the national headquarters of the popular. PP sources have later confirmed the meeting, when consulted by this newspaper. At the meeting, Bendodo asked Villacs to discuss it with the mayor of Madrid and PP candidate for local elections, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, and with the Madrid PP, led by Isabel Diaz Ayuso.

Not in vain, the positions of one and the other are different: while Almeida believes that adding Villacs to his candidacy would bring him closer to victory on May 28Because the votes of Cs will not be “lost” and the vote of the center-right will be maximized, Ayuso is suspicious of the signings of Ciudadanos positions. To undo a hypothetical tie, Gnova is clearly committed to signing the number two of the city council.

The position of the PP regarding Villacs was clear on Friday: Genoa “opens the doors to the talent of Cs, but without conditions.” Of course, “the last push has to be given by herself”, they say on the noble floor of the popular. “The reality is that he is taking the step. But either he comes to the PP with all the consequences or nothing”, they add, before celebrating that on Friday he already crossed “the Rubicon”.

freedom to candidates

why? Because the deputy mayor of Madrid published a video in which she assured that Ciudadanos should give their municipal candidates freedom to choose if they go together with the Popular Party, on joint platforms or under the brand orange.

Bendodo and Villacs had previously met. At least, on one more occasion, recognized by the number three from Feijo. So, he suggested that she take the plunge and join Almeida’s electoral ballot. Last Monday he reiterated it again, but he stressed that he was delegating the final decision to the PP in Madrid and summoned it to that final dialogue.

Why was Bendodo the link with Villacs? Because, within Genoa, he is in charge of maintaining dialogue with all the parties. In fact, he is the one who leads, together with the president of his party, the “simple majority operation”, which consists of probing for possible support from minority parties (Canarian Coalition, UPN, PNV, Teruel Exists…) in the event that the PP achieved an insufficient majority in the generals to achieve the investiture without Vox.

That’s right, he number three of the PP has not been the only one that has tempted Villacs. the deputy secretary popularPedro Rolln He attended the General Assembly of Cs and there he also had a conversation with her.