Florentino Pérez starts with a wide lead over Enrique Riquelme in MARCA's exit poll during the Real Madrid presidential elections. According to the 3:00 PM update, the current president obtains 64.55% of the support compared to 35.45% for the Alicante businessman.
The poll does not equate to the official result, but it offers a first snapshot of the election day in Valdebebas. Real Madrid members are voting this Sunday between 9:00 AM and 8:00 PM to elect a president in a historic event: for the first time in two decades, the white club is holding elections with more than one candidate.
MARCA's data keeps Florentino ahead since the first updates of the day. At 10:00 AM, the poll placed the current president at 66.49% and Riquelme at 33.51%. At 11:00 AM, Florentino dropped to 62.5% and Riquelme rose to 37.5%. From midday onwards, the president's lead stabilized around 65%.
Florentino maintains a lead of nearly 30 points
MARCA's exit poll reflects a wide lead for Florentino Pérez. With 64.55% of the support, the current president would be ahead of Enrique Riquelme by just over 29 points.
The difference is significant because it confirms a stable trend throughout the day: Riquelme mobilizes a significant portion of the critical or change vote, but he does not manage to get close enough to cast doubt on Florentino's initial lead in this measurement.
The campaign has been much more intense than expected, with high-impact sporting promises, names like Haaland, Rodri, Mourinho, Klopp, or Casillas, and a fundamental debate about Real Madrid's institutional model. However, MARCA's poll suggests that the vote for continuity would continue to weigh more among the members who go to the polls.
Evolution of MARCA's poll throughout the day
MARCA's exit poll has been updated throughout the day with this data:
10:00 AM
Florentino Pérez: 66.49%
Enrique Riquelme: 33.51%11:00 AM
Florentino Pérez: 62.5%
Enrique Riquelme: 37.5%1:00 PM
Florentino Pérez: 65.45%
Enrique Riquelme: 34.55%2:00 PM
Florentino Pérez: 64.52%
Enrique Riquelme: 35.48%3:00 PM
Florentino Pérez: 64.55%
Enrique Riquelme: 35.45%
The evolution shows a constant lead for the current president, although with small fluctuations throughout the day.
Participation reached 16.82% at 1:00 PM
The Electoral Board of Real Madrid reported that by 1:00 PM, 12,651 members had voted, representing a turnout of 16.82%.
This figure confirms a significant turnout in Valdebebas in elections that are unusual in the club's institutional life. It has been since 2006 that there was a vote with more than one candidate for the presidency of Real Madrid.
The final turnout will be one of the keys of the day. High mobilization can nuance the reading of exit polls and give more weight to in-person voting compared to postal voting.
Postal voting, one of the unknowns
The MARCA poll measures the mood at the polling stations during election day, but it does not completely resolve the unknown of postal voting.
That vote could be important in the final result, especially if the margin between candidates narrows in the final hours. For now, the known polls place Florentino ahead, but the official result will only be known after the polls close and the full count is completed.
In elections with a strong symbolic charge, postal voting also has historical significance: the 2006 elections were marked precisely by the controversy surrounding this method.
Riquelme shakes up the campaign, but Florentino maintains an advantage
Enrique Riquelme has ensured that the campaign is not a routine re-election. His candidacy has introduced debate on club ownership, transparency, economic management, and the sporting future of Real Madrid.
He has also placed names of great impact in the Real Madrid conversation, such as Haaland, Rodri, or Klopp, in addition to advocating for the role of former players and historical figures of the club.
Florentino Pérez, for his part, has defended the continuity of his model and an era marked by great sporting successes, economic growth, transformation of the Bernabéu, and international expansion of the Real Madrid brand.
The exit poll suggests that this narrative of continuity continues to have more strength among the members who are voting this Sunday.
Historic elections at Real Madrid
This Sunday's elections are the first with more than one candidate for the presidency of Real Madrid since 2006.
During the last electoral processes, Florentino Pérez had run unopposed. This time, Enrique Riquelme's candidacy has opened a real vote between two models and has returned the ballot boxes to the center of the club's institutional life.
The members vote at the Ciudad Real Madrid Basketball Pavilion, in Valdebebas, until 8:00 PM. Afterwards, the count will begin, which will decide whether Florentino Pérez continues at the helm of the club or if Riquelme causes one of the biggest electoral surprises in recent Real Madrid history.