Enrique Riquelme appeared this Saturday in Valdebebas, where the headquarters of the Real Madrid electoral board is located, to submit all the necessary documentation to formalize his candidacy for the presidency of the white entity. This was the last step, and the most costly, to meet the requirements written in the statutes, tightened since Florentino Pérez took over the presidency two decades ago, coincidentally when the last elections were held.
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The businessman arrived around 17:50 at the club’s offices. Now, the electoral board must analyze all the paperwork and give a verdict in the coming hours. If approved, an electoral calendar will be established whose end could be (it is the most logical date) June 7 with elections between the owner of ACS, who is already officially a candidate, and the owner of Cox. If the board considers that the standards are not met, everything is set for Florentino Pérez to be re-elected president until 2030.
It was the Real Madrid president himself who put that businessman with a “Mexican accent” who pulled strings in the shadows and spoke with the electric companies on display. Enrique Riquelme is from Alicante and speaks fluent Spanish, without North American tones, although that is where the core of his business is concentrated. If that happened on a Tuesday, on Thursday Real Madrid opened the electoral process with a ten-day deadline to submit candidacies. And this week everything has accelerated.
Riquelme, who already hinted at running in 2021 despite being 32 years old, acknowledged that everything had accelerated, that his plan started in 2028 and that he lacked time to build something with face and eyes. But he would try. For that very reason, he has been appearing publicly (charity padel tournament, VII Economic Expansion Forum, premiere of the Rafa Nadal documentary…), insisting on his message, while his company’s shares grew by 15 percent.
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On Thursday, by means of a letter, he sent a letter to the electoral board expressing his intention to run. This Friday, it emerged that the main Spanish banks (Santander and BBVA) had denied him the guarantee, something he had assured would not be a problem, so he had to turn to Andbank (Andorra) and Scotiabank (Canada) to meet the toughest requirement set by Florentino Pérez: to guarantee with 187 million euros of personal assets.
This Saturday he has submitted the documentation awaiting approval by the electoral board. At night, he will go to Santiago Bernabéu through door 65 to see the last match of the season against Athletic Club. A farewell match, like those of Dani Carvajal or David Alaba, also that of Álvaro Arbeloa. And the owner of Cox hopes it will be the unexpected farewell of Florentino Pérez. An Everest lies ahead of him.
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