The Government delegate in the Community of Madrid, Francisco Martín Aguirre, has submitted his resignation this Sunday, October 25, after being left out of the PSOE lists for Congress and the Senate for the general elections on November 29. The socialist leader, who had held the position since March 2023 and had been one of the closest collaborators to Pedro Sánchez, leaves the Government Delegation after several months of political confrontations with the Executive of Isabel Díaz Ayuso and in a context of internal tensions over the preparation of electoral candidacies.
According to El País, citing socialist sources, Martín has justified his decision by considering that "the conditions are not in place to continue exercising his responsibility". The resignation comes ten days after his exclusion from the Madrid candidacies was made known, a decision that surprised various sectors of the party due to the delegate's connection with Sánchez and his participation in the Government's structure. His departure now opens a new process of institutional reorganization in Madrid, where the Executive will have to appoint a replacement in the midst of the pre-campaign and when the capital is still marked by protests for the right to housing.
The internal tensions of the Madrid PSOE, behind Francisco Martín's resignation
The delegate's resignation cannot be understood solely by his absence from the electoral lists. According to the socialist sources consulted by El País, the decision is related to the internal discrepancies that arose during the PSOE primaries to choose its candidate for the Mayor of Madrid in 2027. In that process, Martín would have tacitly supported Enma López, who contested the candidacy against Reyes Maroto, who ultimately won.
The primaries, held last July, highlighted the existing division in the Madrid socialist federation. Reyes Maroto obtained 55.4% of the votes, compared to 44.6% for Enma López, in a vote in which 1,884 militants participated, approximately one third of the census. López's candidacy generated discomfort in the leadership of the PSOE of Madrid, led by the Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López, who had backed Maroto as the municipal candidate.
According to the information published by the newspaper, Martín's support for Enma López would have contributed to deteriorating his relationships with the regional leadership. However, the leaders of the Madrid PSOE had previously denied the existence of a confrontation between the delegate and Óscar López, so the link between the primaries and the resignation responds to the interpretation conveyed by the internal sources consulted.
The exclusion from the lists has further aggravated the situation. Martín aspired to make the leap to the Congress of Deputies, according to information published in recent weeks, but ultimately did not obtain any position in the candidacies approved by the party for the 29N. His absence is particularly significant because other government delegates have managed to join the socialist lists.
The PSOE reserves the main positions in Madrid for ministers and leaders from Ferraz
The PSOE candidacy for Madrid is led by Pedro Sánchez, who has placed several members of his Government and leaders from the federal structure of the party in the top positions. Margarita Robles occupies the number two; Félix Bolaños, the three; and Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the five, while the Secretary of State for Relations with the Cortes, Rafael Simancas, appears in the seventh position.
The list also includes Borja Cabezón, assistant to the Secretary of Organization of the PSOE, and other leaders linked to the Madrid federation. From Ferraz and the Madrid PSOE, they have argued that the positions on the candidacy were particularly contested and that it was difficult to incorporate all the political leaders who aspired to obtain a seat.
The situation contrasts with that of other territorial representatives of the Government. Pilar Bernabé, Adriana Lastra, Carlos Prieto, Pedro Fernández, Fernando Beltrán, and José Luis Quintana have left their respective delegations to join the PSOE lists in different constituencies. Their dismissals were approved by the Council of Ministers on October 20, in application of the incompatibilities provided for by electoral legislation.
In the case of Francisco Martín, however, his departure does not respond to the obligation to leave the position to run in the elections, but to a resignation submitted after being excluded from the candidacies. This circumstance constitutes one of the main differences between his situation and that of other socialist delegates who will participate directly in the elections.
The Sol encampment and the confrontations with Ayuso mark his last weeks
Martín's resignation comes after several weeks of institutional confrontation with the Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso and the City Council of José Luis Martínez-Almeida, especially regarding the management of the encampment set up at Puerta del Sol since September 26. The protest, which arose after the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, has caused a growing dispute between the administrations over the possibility of evicting the settlement and the competencies of each institution in matters of security and public order.
The Madrid Executive has repeatedly accused the delegate of allowing the encampment to remain for political reasons, while Martín had defended the actions of the Government Delegation and the need to respect the right to protest. On October 21, the Minister of the Presidency of the Community of Madrid, Miguel Ángel García Martín, publicly demanded his resignation, accusing him of preventing the Police from acting normally. For its part, Vox announced a lawsuit against the delegate for his management of the concentration, and the PP considered taking legal action. The Justice had previously rejected the attempts to force the eviction, while a complaint filed by Manos Limpias was archived due to procedural defects.
This controversy was joined by the police charges against teachers participating in the educational protests in Madrid, an episode that led the Government Delegation to announce an internal investigation to clarify the actions of the agents. During his term, Martín had become one of the main interlocutors of the central Executive in the Community of Madrid and a regular figure in the political confrontations with the regional Government, especially in matters of citizen security and management of protests.
Pilar Trinidad Núñez, main candidate to replace Francisco Martín
The Government is already working on the succession at the head of the Government Delegation in Madrid. According to sources from the Executive consulted by El País, the Council of Ministers is expected to address the appointment of his successor next Tuesday, October 27, and the main candidate is Pilar Trinidad Núñez, current deputy delegate of the Government in the region. Her designation would allow for the continuity of the institution's functioning at a time marked by social mobilizations and the proximity of the general elections.
Pilar Trinidad Núñez has held the Deputy Delegation of the Government since December 2023. She holds a doctorate in Law from the University of Extremadura and is a tenured professor of Public International Law and International Relations at Rey Juan Carlos University, where she also served as secretary general. Before joining the Delegation, she had held responsibilities in various departments of the Administration, especially in the field of international relations and legal cooperation.
Her eventual appointment would take place at a particularly complex time for the organization of security in Madrid. The capital faces the continuation of protests over housing, the call for a general strike on November 11, and the deployment of the devices corresponding to the campaign for the general elections, which will officially begin on November 13.
From Sánchez's collaborator in the primaries of 2017 to Government delegate in Madrid
Francisco Martín Aguirre, born in Madrid in 1981, has developed much of his political career in the environment of Pedro Sánchez. A Forestry Engineer from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and with postgraduate training in International Trade, he participated in organizing the campaign with which Sánchez regained the General Secretariat of the PSOE in the 2017 primaries against Susana Díaz.
During that time, Martín presided over Bancal de Rosas, the association that channeled the financial contributions of supporters and members to finance the candidacy of the current president of the Government. After Sánchez's victory, he took on responsibilities in the administration and finances of the PSOE, before taking on various trusted positions in La Moncloa.
Between 2021 and 2023, he served as Secretary General of the Presidency of the Government, a responsibility he abandoned when the Council of Ministers approved his appointment as Government Delegate in the Community of Madrid on March 28, 2023. From that position, he assumed the representation of the central Executive in the region, as well as the coordination of various state competencies and actions related to public safety.
His trajectory was also marked by his temporary inclusion in the investigation of the Begoña Gómez case. In May 2025, he was investigated by Judge Juan Carlos Peinado for an alleged crime of embezzlement related to the hiring of an advisor in La Moncloa. However, the Provincial Court of Madrid ordered to archive the proceedings against him due to lack of evidence, a decision that was executed at the end of that year.
The departure of Francisco Martín thus represents the loss of one of Sánchez's historical collaborators at the head of a key state institution in Madrid, just as the PSOE faces a decisive electoral campaign. His exclusion from the candidacies of November 29 and the discrepancies that arose in the Madrid federation have ultimately precipitated a resignation that comes after more than three years of institutional confrontations with the Ayuso Government and just a few weeks before the Spaniards return to the polls.