Enrique Riquelme, the candidate with a “Mexican accent” that Florentino Pérez referred to in his speech

During Tuesday’s press conference, Florentino Pérez himself mentioned the only man who has threatened to run for president against him. This was back as part of the 2021 election campaign.

Ultimately, after outlining his intentions in a few press interviews, Enrique Riquelme decided to wait for a better opportunity and today, as part of his emergency speech delivered on Tuesday evening, Florentino Pérez referred to Riquelme as that man with a “South American accent,” later adding “Mexican.” So, who is this potential candidate?

Enrique Riquelme was born in Cox, Alicante, and despite his youth (37 years old), he has been a member of the club for over 20 years (and is therefore eligible to be president), because he comes from a family of Real Madrid fans: he is the son of one of the members of the board of directors that presided over Real Madrid under Ramón Calderón. Riquelme is based in Mexico because he owns and chairs the Cox Energy Group, one of the world’s leading renewable energy companies, with a presence in Spain and many countries in South America and around the world. When he first hinted at running for president in 2021, Riquelme was 32 years old.

“Whether now or in the future, I want to try,” Enrique Riquelme told El Confidencial at the time. The businessman has been considering his ideal candidacy for several years, “seeing the possibility of applying what I’ve learned and working with a highly professional board of directors—not a group of friends—to take the club to another level. Right now, either the club takes a different direction and professionalizes its management to the fullest extent, truly becoming a global club, or there will be problems. And being global isn’t about going on a tour of the United States,” the businessman concluded in that interview.

Enrique Riquelme is known in the business world as The King of the Sun. In 10 years, he has built a company, Cox Energy, which is listed on the Institutional Stock Exchange (BIVA) of Mexico, has projects in Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Spain, Portugal, and Panama, and, according to him, is preparing its expansion into Italy and El Salvador. It also has a presence in the US, Spain, and the Middle East and is valued at several billion euros. A couple of weeks ago, he closed the purchase of Iberdrola Mexico for 4 billion dollars. A couple of years ago, he also made an offer for Abengoa. This financial solvency allows the young Spanish businessman to meet the necessary guarantee of 187 million euros (15% of a budget of 1.2 billion euros).

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