Spain's General Union of Workers (UGT) and Workers' Commissions Union (CCOO) "are with Madrid 2020," according to José Félix Diaz of EL CONFIDENCIAL. Both parties made their support for the Olympic bid clear Monday morning at the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE)'s headquarters. UGT Secretary General Cándido Méndez and CCOO Secretary General Ignacio Fernández Toxo joined COE President Alejandro Blanco, staging the social support for the Olympic project. Blanco said, "It is a demonstration of more popular support than the bid counted on." Méndez defended the Games for what they could mean for Spain. Méndez: "UGT supports the candidacy. We know the importance that it has for Spain that they give us the Olympics and what it could mean. It could be so crucial that everything changes. It will improve the international protection for our country in a moment in which our image is being shaken. The bias and misleading information on what happens in this country, like for example the latest information appearing in the London Telegraph and Germany's Der Spiegel, they are not true." Toxo thanked Blanco for approaching the unions. Toxo said, "If Madrid becomes the Olympic site, it will be good news for everyone. It is a project of a country, of the whole Spanish society, like what happened in Barcelona [during the 1992 Olympics.] Those Games served to leave behind the struggles we were suffering. The self-esteem was raised at all levels. The successes of Spanish sport arrive thanks to its structure. Spain needs an impact program to boost the economy, the employment. There is a need and the Games can serve as a starting point" (EL CONFIDENCIAL, 5/13).
