In the two years of the PSOE/PCE City Council (Tierno/Tamames) in 1979/1981, the truth is that we did, I think, quite a few things. We launched the improvement of municipal rental housing (about 6,000) and the refurbishment of several popular neighborhoods, from Greater San Blas to Los Angeles City. In addition, Mercamadrid was organized as a large food unit, at a time when the project was almost on the verge of abandoning.
And very especially the expansion of the great Madrid fair, called IFEMA (Madrid Fair Institution), was proposed, with its President who was the same as the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the great Adrián Piera.
Adrián, an old friend, came to see me in my office at the City Hall in Plaza de la Villa (“Casa de Cisneros”), and raised the need for a new fairground. We welcomed his project with the logical interest of the case, and for the next day I organized a meeting with the Mayor, Enrique Tierno Galván, the Councilor for Urban Planning, Eduardo Mangada, Adrián himself and myself. And already in that work session, a first sketch was made of what would be the later called Juan Carlos I Fairgrounds, in which today 60 percent of the quota of large commercial fairs in all of Spain is generated.
Last Monday, October 21, at the Ifema headquarters, in the beautiful Park of Nations, a ceremony was held in honor of Adrián Piera, with his name awarded to the Glorieta that gives entrance to the Ifema pavilions. The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez Almeida, said some wise words, after Adrián’s son. And finally, I was given the honor of finishing the event, in a way because I was a servant of the co-founder – that’s what I always tell myself – of the great Juan Carlos I venue. We all greatly appreciated the presence of the perpetual mayor José at the event. María Álvarez del Manzano.
Congratulations, Adrián, wherever you are, for the reminder, which has been done with all historical justice.