(ATR) Madrid city council leaders backed plans to bid for the 2020 Olympics Wednesday but not without opposition from two small parties who consider a third effort to lure the Games a campaign too far for the debt-ridden city.
The vote was pushed through by Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon's Partido Popular and the Partido Socialista Obrero Espanol, but objections came from the two opposition parties citing economic concerns.
The Spanish Olympic Committee is expected to rubberstamp Madrid's Olympic bid plans later this week.
Madrid faced no such opposition when it decided to bid for the 2016 Olympics after already losing out on the 2012 Games in its previous effort.
Opposition to Madrid's bid this time may pose a major challenge for the city in the run-up to the IOC vote on the 2020 Olympics in 2013.
But Madrid remains in a strong position two years out, with over three-quarters of the infrastructure already in place for a Games.
Former Spanish sports minister Jaime Lissavetzky, who is socialist party leader in the municipal government, claimed that $28.4 million for the bid campaign could be generated from the private sector to fund the bid so there was no burden on taxpayers.
But the two parties objecting to the plan insisted taxpayers would end up footing an Olympic candidacy.
"We cannot ask citizens to make this enormous effort because in the end it will be them who pay the bills," Union Progreso y Democracia spokesman David Ortega was quoted by Reuters.
"It's not acceptable that there is no money for senior citizens' homes, public schools or assistance for small and mid-sized firms but there is for the sporting facilities for the Olympic Games."
In announcing Madrid's intentions to bid for the 2020 Olympics last week, Ruiz-Gallardon insisted a successful 2020 bid would boost the financially-stricken economy of Madrid and Spain.
Other cities bidding for the 2020 Olympics are Rome and Tokyo. Doha and Istanbul are other possible bid cities. Sept. 1 is the deadline for bid submissions from National Olympic Committees.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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