Article by Daniel Grigore – Published Wednesday, May 13, 2026, 11:23 / Updated Wednesday, May 13, 2026 11:28
Tuesday night during the press conference in which Florentino Perez (79) accused ABC and Relevo of running a campaign against Real Madrid, the group that owns those publications announced the president's resignation!
On Tuesday evening, Florentino Perez held a press conference in which he went to war with two publications in Spain, ABC and Relevo, both part of the Vocento group.
“It is an organized campaign. Vocento owns ABC and created Relevo. (…) Their only aim was to attack Real Madrid and its president, Florentino Perez.
My father always read ABC and got me a subscription many years ago. I wanted to honor my father, but now I have made the decision to unsubscribe from ABC. My father will thank me. How can ABC do such a thing?
I am announcing that I will be unsubscribing from ABC to honor my father“, thundered Perez, who also “eared” ABC journalist Rubén Cañizares, present in the room:
“Every day you attack Madrid. Look at the two articles written today. One of them was written by a woman who I don't know if she knows football or not.”
While Florentino Perez was “listening” to ABC and Relevo, the president's resignation was announced!
Curious is that during the conference where Florentino Perez was making these statements, the Vocento group announced a change at the highest level: the resignation of the chairman of the group for the last 7 years, Ignacio Ybarra, and his replacement by Ignacio Eyriès as non-executive chairman.
Ignacio Ybarra, who will continue within the group as a member of the Board of Directors, justified his decision as follows:
“After an already long stage in the presidency, I think it is the right time to take a step back, given that the new cycle, with Manuel Mirat as executive director, is consolidated and the Strategic Plan 2025-2029 has established future bases that are already being fulfilled.
Ignacio Eyriès will bring new perspectives and ideas and I am sure he will play a fundamental role in accelerating the ambitious improvement and growth plans we have in all areas of the company”.
Apparently no connection to Florentino Perez's tirade, but the Spaniards immediately made the connection given the curious timing.
ABC director accused Florentino Perez: “No coercion worked, neither will Florentino Perez”
In parallel, Julián Quirós, director of ABC, published an article entitled “ABC and Florentino Perez”. In it, he accused that the president of Real Madrid would have tried over time to influence the editorial policy of the publication!
“It is said that Florentino Perez has a lot of power and that he appoints or fires journalists. There is a grain of truth and an element of legend in this, but I must state that in the almost six years that I have been running the ABC, I have not experienced this.
We met immediately, he was among the first to congratulate me, we had a coffee and he told me about his big project for the new Bernabéu.
shortly after he called me to complain about some information, with the intention of making me change it; I didn't listen to him. A second attempt followed with the same failed result and it never bothered me again; disappeared from my phone book forever.
Sometimes we wish each other happy holidays, I have affection and respect for him as a businessman and sports leader, but that doesn't mean we have to pay attention to whether or not he likes a column or a columnist,” Quirós initially wrote.
The director of the publication continued:
“This newspaper has suffered confiscations, fines and sanctions both under the republic and under the dictatorship, and some of its journalists have lost their lives working here. The ABC has suffered attacks, been threatened by ETA.
And to limit ourselves to the present, Pedro Sánchez (no – the prime minister of Spain) kicked us off the presidential plane, we received several ministerial vetoes, including calls to advertisers to publish expropriation ads in other newspapers.
Several socialist leaders did exactly the same thing as Florentino, they pointed the finger at us and tried to intimidate us. (…)
It's not pleasant, but no coercion against ABC has worked so far. Florentino Perez won't make it either. The ABC will continue to do its job with rigor, truth, autonomy and without condescension or intimidation. It's the minimum respect our readers and 123 years of history deserve.”
