This Sunday, June 7, Real Madrid is holding its first elections with ballot boxes in almost two decades. Members eligible to vote can go to the Basketball Pavilion of Ciudad Real Madrid, in Valdebebas, between 9:00 AM and 8:00 PM.
The day will decide whether Florentino Pérez continues at the helm of the club or if the Alicante businessman Enrique Riquelme manages to open a new institutional era. The event comes after the current president called elections on May 12, an unexpected decision that broke the long cycle of re-elections without opposition.
Two candidacies and a more tense campaign than expected
Florentino Pérez comes to the elections with the aim of demonstrating that he still has the support of the Real Madrid fanbase despite going through two seasons without major titles. Since his return to the presidency in 2009, he had always been re-elected as the sole candidate.
This time, however, he will face Enrique Riquelme, president of the energy group Cox, who has managed to become Florentino's first electoral rival in almost 20 years. His candidacy has raised the tone of the campaign and has forced a confrontation between two management models for the club's future.
The campaign has heated up with high-impact sporting promises. In Florentino Pérez's camp, the return of José Mourinho to the dugout has been positioned as one of the main bets for continuity. Riquelme, for his part, has built a good part of his message around signings such as Erling Haaland and Rodri, as well as other names that have appeared during the campaign, such as Dumfries, Konaté, Casillas, or Del Bosque.
Who can vote
The electoral roll has not been made public to the candidates, which has added uncertainty to the day. According to the club's statutes and electoral rules, members over the age of majority with at least one year of uninterrupted seniority can vote.
Real Madrid has around 100,000 members, although it is estimated that around 70,000 meet the requirements to participate in the vote. The last membership card number eligible to vote is 99,989.
There is also the possibility of voting by mail, although the deadline to request it ended on June 3. For it to be valid, it must be done before a public or licensed notary who certifies compliance with the established requirements.
What the polls say
The few polls published during the campaign point to a lead for Florentino Pérez, although they also reflect that Riquelme has closed the gap in recent days.
In a survey by Marca, 64% of readers believed Florentino would win the elections, although only half of them thought he would do so by a wide margin. 36% bet on a victory for Riquelme.
The survey by As showed a smaller gap, with a slight four-point lead for Florentino Pérez. On the other hand, among readers of El País, Riquelme was the preferred candidate, with around 70% support.
Signings, coaches, and campaign promises
The sporting dimension has occupied a large part of the electoral debate. According to data released by Marca, 57% of its readers believed that Riquelme was winning the campaign with his promises, especially due to the proposal to sign Erling Haaland, seen by 65% as the most powerful name among those proposed.
In the case of Florentino Pérez, the possible return of Mourinho has generated division. 82% of readers in that same survey believed that there are better coaches and that a part of the fanbase would not look favorably upon his return due to the controversies of his previous tenure.
To the question of which coach could neutralize Riquelme's effect, 80% pointed to Jürgen Klopp, although his name is not part of an official closed proposal.
Participation, one of the big unknowns
Participation will be one of the key factors of the day. The last real elections with ballot boxes at Real Madrid were held in 2006, when Ramón Calderón was elected president against Juan Palacios, Juan Miguel Villar Mir, Lorenzo Sanz, and Arturo Baldasano.
At that time, 27,958 members voted, which was 39.55% of the electorate. Those elections came after the resignation of Florentino Pérez, who had first become president in 2000, revalidated his position in 2004, and resigned in 2006.
Florentino returned in 2009 as the sole candidate after Calderón's departure due to fraud in the members' assembly. Since then, the club had not experienced a competitive election until Riquelme's emergence.
The electoral rules that marked two decades
After his return to the presidency, Florentino Pérez pushed for two key changes in Real Madrid's electoral regulations. The first was to raise the required seniority to run for president to 20 years. The second was to require a bank guarantee equivalent to 15% of the club's budget, secured by personal assets.
These conditions have been pointed out for years as one of the reasons why alternative candidates with the real capacity to run had not appeared. Riquelme's candidacy breaks that scenario and returns the club to a vote with two opposing projects.
Continuity or change
This Sunday's election is presented as a showdown between the continuity of Florentino Pérez, linked to his institutional management, the remodeling of the Bernabéu, and his leadership model, and the alternative of Enrique Riquelme, focused on transparency, sporting renewal, and greater member participation.
Beyond the result, these elections have already changed the club's internal climate. After almost 20 years without competitive elections, Real Madrid is once again deciding its presidency on a day that will measure the real support of the fanbase for Florentino Pérez's project and Riquelme's ability to turn discontent into votes.