Chile threw in the towel, of Spain jumps: Madrid remain only a few weeks time the UN climate change conference to prepare. You can create the Spanish capital, anyway? Rainer Converter looked around.
The Spanish capital takes on in the short term, the tasks of Santiago de Chile. In the face of a week-long social protests and brutal Polizeieinsätzegab the Latin American country, most recently, the UN climate change conference. Madrid is now in the short term, the COP25 of 2. up to the 13. December to align.
This is not an easy undertaking. But the programme for the official part is the same as the list of invited organisations and associations. All this has made Chile already.
And so the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida is optimistic. “Madrid is able to stand in a record time with the ten-day world summit on climate change in the center of the world. The infrastructure of the city of Madrid has already tackled other major international events,” explains the conservative politicians, the draws for July, the fortunes of the city. He refers to the final of the Champions League last spring, or the annual Orgullo Gay, the Spanish day of the LGBT movement.
Has no doubt that Madrid can lift the earth summit: the mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida
The Last Minute, tested
Exactly one year ago, Madrid had already jumped once in the last Minute for a big event. The Finale of the American football Libertadores Cup was the Association of security of Buenos Aires in the Spanish capital was relocated. Madrid showed themselves to the onslaught of tens of thousands of Fans has grown.
For the COP25, on the the in Paris in 2015 adopted in international climate policy is to be poured into concrete measures, can be expected up to 30,000 visitors. The city has nearly 90,000 hotel beds. In addition to over ten thousand apartments and about 6,000 private holiday room. With an extensive train, subway and bus network, as well as more than 16,000 taxis and several Thousand vehicles from providers such as Uber is also provided for mobility.
Event tried and tested: The fairground of Madrid is one of the most important in Europe
But the most important thing: The Congress and the IFEMA trade fair capacity off. On 80,000 square meters of conferences to political and economic summit of international experts to meet a large number of major events, including the NATO summit or the Meeting for the reconstruction of Iraq. In one of the two big pavilions of the state to meet leaders and politicians now, when COP25 for your negotiations. The other pavilion is not intended to accommodate governmental organisations and environmental associations.
Image for Madrid
The biggest challenge will probably be the safety. For a summit, thousands of police officers have to be turned off. It won’t be easy. Because Spain has these days, with the independence protests in Catalonia, his social conflict. The Ministry of the interior will not come around it, police forces were sent to the northeastern Spanish Region, in the short term, to Madrid, back to lay.
“We have experience. We have the capacity. And, above all, we have the necessary enthusiasm to stand in the center of the world, if one of the most important questions in terms of the future of humanity is debated,climate and sustainable environmental policy,” says mayor left Almeida.
Thousands flock together each year in Madrid for the Gay Pride Parade
“For Madrid, the venue of the summit will bring a positive economic result. We are talking about 25,000 people who come to our city and be supported. You will consume and you will be great multipliers, the advertise to come to Madrid and Spain”, explains Ángel Asensio, President of the chamber of Commerce and industry in the Region of Madrid. Estimates about how much revenue the summit could flood into the coffers of the local economy, there is still no. But the amount is likely to be in the medium double-digit million range.
Little interest in Merengues
Some are likely already rubbing their hands. In the case of large events, the hotel rates rise, such as the final of the Champions League in may of this year. At that time, the prices rose by up to 2,000 percent. Some tour operators coves everything they could on the Quick find and offered the room to completely inflated prices.
In the city centre, the topic of COP25 districts in the population is not a particular issue. Here the people also suffer without large-scale events under the tourism. More and more old town residential blocks are split purchased, you are then sued as soon as the tenants – in holiday apartments and rent. Up to 500 Euro per night paid by tourists for apartments previously rented for 800 euros a month.
Madrid groans currents among the tourists
“The world will look on us. Not because a lot of people come and because the entrepreneurs are more or less satisfied. You will look at the commitment of the city, whether the city in the fight against climate change and air pollution makes a step back or forward progresses,” warns the environment spokeswoman for the Opposition in the city Council, Inés Sabanés, and in particular the transport policy of the capital in the view.
Environmental zones will be softened
Sabanés is one of Más Madrid. The left-alternative green list ruled until July, the Spanish capital. Although the mayor Manuale Carmena won with Más Madrid again in the elections. However, Almeida’s provides conservative Partido Popular, together with the right-wing liberal Ciudadanos and the extreme right-wing VOX the majority of the new city Council.
Sabanés introduced as environmentally responsible under Ex-mayor Carmena 2018 heavy traffic restrictions in the city centre. The 472-hectare restricted traffic Zone with the name of Madrid’s Central was developed in only a few months to the effective emission zone in the whole of Europe. The nitrogen oxide air pollution fell by 32 percent. Almeida, made in the election campaign against the Madrid Central mood, and thus, especially in the peripheral areas of the city had success, takes back now a part of the traffic restrictions and these days even Bicycle lanes for car traffic open.