Rita Maestre has intensified her campaign for the Más Madrid primaries by bringing in Dani Ayuso and Diana López, two figures associated with digital media. Their involvement highlights the party’s efforts to strengthen its communication and outreach ahead of the 2027 municipal elections in Madrid, where Maestre has been selected as its candidate for mayor.
Ayuso, known for appearing in WokeUp News videos, and López, one of the channel’s founders and recognizable faces, bring experience in online political messaging. WokeUp News has been described as a response to the prominence of right-wing influencers, including Vito Quiles and Bertrand Ndongo. The overlap between digital media and party politics puts the channel within a broader debate about how political organizations build their presence and reach voters online.
López is also described as the newly proclaimed leader of Más Madrid’s youth wing and a spokesperson on the San Blas-Canillejas district council. Ayuso previously advised the party’s municipal group at Madrid City Hall and now supports Maestre’s candidacy. The party leadership has characterized WokeUp News as operating independently, run by activists and sympathizers rather than as an official party organ.
Más Madrid’s basic process selected Maestre for the municipal contest and Mónica García for the presidency of the Community of Madrid. The two roles concern separate elections and levels of government: Maestre is the party’s municipal candidate, while García is its regional candidate. Rita Maestre is also the spokesperson for Más Madrid’s group at Madrid City Hall; Manuela Bergerot is the party’s spokesperson in the regional Assembly.
The party enters the contest with a different electoral record from one municipal election to the next. In 2019, Más Madrid received 503,990 votes, or 30.94%, and won 19 council seats. In 2023, the Más Madrid-Verdes Equo candidacy received 313,205 votes, or 19.11%, and won 12 seats. A GAD3 estimate for Madrid city reported in June put Más Madrid at 18.5% voting intention, compared with 16.3% for the PSOE, 2.7% for Podemos and 1.2% for Izquierda Unida. These are polling estimates, not election results. The figures were reported amid discussions about possible coordination with IU for the 2027 municipal and regional elections.
Those discussions continued after Más Madrid completed its primaries. Separate negotiations over a broader Frente Amplio structure placed the party’s campaign within a wider alliance context. EFE reported that García withdrew from a Frente Amplio list to focus on the regional contest, while Emilio Delgado headed the coalition’s Madrid congressional list and Tesh Sidi was second. El País reported that Más Madrid figure Eduardo Rubiño would take the fifth position. These coalition-list arrangements are distinct from the party’s municipal and regional candidate selections.
Other figures linked to Más Madrid and WokeUp News include Nacho Diez, who manages the party’s social media and appears in the channel’s content; René Soto, who works at Torrejón de Ardoz city council in an administrative role for a mixed group that includes Más Madrid’s Ruth Grass; and Ovi Leonarte, who describes himself as a Más Madrid activist and has contributed to initiatives such as Programa Albatros, which addresses chemsex issues in public institutions. This crossover between media and party roles is not unique to Más Madrid; similar dynamics have surfaced in other Spanish political movements, as seen in coverage of public controversies such as the recent conflict involving Victoria in 'Valle Salvaje'.
Más Madrid has become a impressive force in the capital’s politics, positioning itself as a progressive alternative to traditional parties. Its 2027 campaign will unfold in municipal institutions and on digital platforms, as Maestre and the party seek to turn online visibility and new political profiles into electoral support.
