“How was I going to hide under the cover of politics what I didn’t know as a couple?”

The co-spokeswoman of Más Madrid, Rita Maestre, once again denied having any knowledge or signs of the “misogynistic, predatory and manipulative” behavior of Iñigo Errejón before complaints from several women surfaced in October. “How was I going to hide under the cover of politics what I didn’t know as a couple”he pointed out.

In turn, he admitted that he doubted the veracity of the first complaint, that of 2023 in Castellón, although Más Madrid resolved the problem because the person concerned “did not want to know anything more on the subject.” “It was a mistake [por parte de la formación] not go any further,” reiterated the spokesperson for Más Madrid at the capital’s town hall.

Maestre played in the last Registeredthe laSexta program presented by Gonzo. The broadcast of the interview this Sunday on prime time arrives late. Initially, it was planned for Sunday, November 3. But the DANA tragedy forced the channel to change its programming.

The document was filed on December 30 and was submitted days after the former politician was due to appear in court over the alleged sexual assault case reported by the actress. Elisa Mouliaá.

“Angry, disappointed, proud…” During the conversation, Maestre indicated that she felt “deceived personally and politically” by Errejón, with whom she broke off her romantic relationship more than a decade ago. Widespread complaints gave him a “an unconscious feeling of guilt” for not having detected that his former partner was “two-faced”.

“Neither me, nor Manuela Bergerot, nor Mónica García [las otras dos coportavoces de la formación madrileña] “Neither the activists nor anyone knew that he was a misogynist, a predator and a pathological manipulator… How was I going to hide in politics what I did not know as a couple,” he stressed.

On November 26, the leader of Más Madrid en Cibeles published a letter written with “a lot of anger” that helped her get rid of “this feeling of guilt.”

“He has no forgiveness”

After ensuring that during his relationship with Errejón, he had “no indication” about the attitudes of which he is now accused, Maestre castigated “offensive” and “insult to intelligence” the statement signed by Sumar’s former spokesperson, where “he threw the ball, without assuming anything and without asking for forgiveness.”

“He did not ask for forgiveness and when forgiveness is not asked, it is because he does not take responsibility for what was done. And that is the most serious thing because if you do not take responsibility, nor repair the damage by asking for forgiveness, you cannot guarantee that you will not do it again“, said the municipal president of Más Madrid.

Regarding the aforementioned letter, Maestre stated that “It’s a crime to put neoliberalism in a letter it could only be an assumption of responsibility and an apology.

In this sense, the leader of Más Madrid described as a “meme” the part of this writing where Errejón talks about the difference between person and character, when it comes to “a story of manipulation and duplicity”.

The complaint of 2023

THE accusations of sexual abuse and violence against Íñigo Errejónappeared at the end of October, opened a serious crisis in the Madrid team. The former leader of Más País was the founder and electoral representative of Más Madrid. The party had to come out two weeks ago to give explanations on the first episode reported in June 2023.

These events – as reported in a thread on X, formerly Twitter, which was later deleted – allegedly occurred during a feminist evening in Castellón. There, the version broadcast on the social network reported that Errejón had touched a woman’s ass. It was a autonomous deputy of Más Madrid, Loreto Arenillas, the one who served as mediator with the woman.

Arenillas, who was once Errejón’s chief of staff, has since defended informing his team about the episode, including Bergerot, and that they did not consider the information relevant. The version of the Más Madrid dome is opposite. At a press conference two weeks ago, the three co-spokespeople accused Errejón and Arenillas of downplaying the complaint.

Asked about this, Maestre said that, on the one hand, the woman concerned “did not want to know more” or go to the Más Madrid protocol. And on the other hand, it was transferred [no ha aclarado si Errejón, Arenillas o ambos] at the party that the episode was a “flirt”.

In any case, Maestre then wondered “what was true” in what was being reported. At the time – he remembers – it was considered “an isolated event, which did not allow us to think about general behavior”. After the recent scandal, he said that “It was a mistake not to have gone further”. Furthermore, the leader of the opposition at Madrid City Hall recalled that she had fired a municipal councilor in 2019 after a complaint of inappropriate behavior.

Sumar’s “impeccable” management

Maestre, for his part, considered adequate the explanations given by Yolanda Díaz after learning of the complaints through the Instagram account of Cristina Fallarás. Thus, he defended the management of the crisis carried out by Más Madrid and Sumar, who dismissed Errejón. “in more than 48 hours”. Regarding the training of Yolanda Díaz, he said that her management was “impeccable”.

In the last part of the program, the co-spokesperson of Más Madrid assumed that “Sometimes you have to pay election bills”even if he believes that “political or ethical inconsistency” is “worse”. Finally, to the question of whether there was “friendly fire” from the left space to “collect the bills”, Maestre advised leaving aside the “absurd battles”: “There are already a lot of people these days who want to be the baptism girl”.