Enrique Riquelme (32 years old, Cox, Alicante), a successful businessman in the renewables sector, has hinted to El Confidencial about his intention to compete in an election for the presidency of Real Madrid with Florentino Pérez. Whether “now or in the future”, Riquelme says to El Confidencial, he wants to try. He has been projecting his ideal candidacy for years, points out the digital medium, “seeing the possibility of applying what he has learned and dealing with a hyperprofessional board of directors, not friends, to take the club to another level,” concludes the businessman.
Enrique Riquelme is the son of one of the members of the board of directors who chaired Real Madrid with Ramón Calderón and has recently completed 20 years of service as a partner, one of the requirements required by the Statutes of the club to be able to introduce themselves. Its businesses in renewables, which extend throughout South America through Cox Energy America, a photovoltaic developer listed on the BIVA (alternative stock exchange in Mexico) since the summer of 2020 and valued at almost 300 million euros after the last capital increase, they also allow Enrique Riquelme to face the guarantee of almost 100 million euros (15% of the budget), the other harsh condition required by the Statutes to be able to run for president from Madrid.
Real Madrid members have not gone to the polls since 2006, the elections that Ramón Calderón won. After his resignation, no one other than Florentino Pérez showed up to those of 2009, nor to those of 2013 and 2017. This summer the electoral period reopens, after the last four years of Florentino's mandate, and this young businessman openly hints at the possibility of competing for the presidency of the white entity. “Right now, either the club takes a different direction and professionalizes the management to the maximum, truly becoming a global club, or there will be problems. And being global is not doing a tour of the United States, ”says Enrique Riquelme in El Confidencial.
The digital newspaper affirms that in the offices of the Bernabéu they already know of the existence of this young successful businessman and of his intentions to stand for election. “One thing is the speech and another, the facts. Santiago Bernabéu laid the foundations for what Real Madrid is, ”says Riquelme himself. “He is, without a doubt, the best president in history. Afterwards, we have had other good presidents and, among all of them, Florentino Pérez has been a catalyst, he has done very good things for the club. It consolidated Real Madrid 2.0, but the institution needs a change ”, he explains, convinced of his words.
El Confidencial tells that Riquelme packed his bags to make his way after the previous crisis, after the family quarry business (Alicante and Murcia) suffered from the collapse of construction. He aimed at Brazil, for that of the builder 'boom' of the 2014 Soccer World Cup, but an unexpected swerve took him to Panama, where, at the age of 20, he began to earn a living in the aggregates and concrete business from local investors. And so on until he sneaked into the largest civil engineering work, such as the Canal expansion, carried out by Sacyr, where he could make his fortune for the first time. Now, Enrique Riquelme is immersed in his landing in Spain and Portugal with the help of the Ibox Energy platform. And he aims high, maybe even the presidency of Madrid.