Florentino Perez was re-elected president of Real Madrid on June 8, 2026, securing about 65% of member votes in the club's first contested presidential election in 20 years [1, 2, 3, 4]. Approximately 33,555 members voted in person at the Valdebebas training ground on June 7, 2026, choosing Perez over challenger Enrique Riquelme, who received around 35% [1, 3, 4, 5]. Riquelme congratulated Perez’s campaign while emphasizing the significance of the vote as a referendum for members [1, 5].
Perez, who previously served as president from 2000 to 2006 and continuously since 2009, had called early elections on May 12 following two consecutive trophyless seasons for Real Madrid [1, 6, 3, 4]. "We have won the elections and will continue working to keep winning titles," Perez said after the victory [2]. He described the result as the second-best in Real Madrid’s electoral history [3].
Perez confirmed the return of Jose Mourinho as head coach on a three-year contract, contingent on Perez’s reelection [2, 7, 6, 4]. Mourinho is currently managing Benfica, who confirmed Real Madrid had triggered his 15 million euro release clause and that Mourinho agreed to the move [7, 8, 9]. Benfica announced Marco Silva as Mourinho’s replacement with a contract potentially running until 2029 [10, 8, 9]. Alvaro Arbeloa, serving as interim coach since January 2026, will step down with Mourinho’s return [2, 9]. Perez said he was "proud to welcome back one of the best coaches in the world, a Madridista like Jose Mourinho" [11].
Perez also pledged to spend 150 million euros on a record-breaking "galactico" signing to be revealed on June 9, 2026 [1, 6, 3, 4, 12]. Additionally, he announced plans to sign defenders Ibrahima Konate and Denzel Dumfries as initial acquisitions [1, 3, 12].
Riquelme, Perez’s rival, had promised to sign Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Rodri and to bring in coach Jürgen Klopp if elected, claims denied by Manchester City, which threatened legal action [1, 6, 12].
Real Madrid is owned by its members who elect the president, with no contested elections since 2006 prior to this vote [1, 2, 6, 11]. Perez also plans to sell 5% of the club to an external investor as part of structural changes [6, 5].
The upcoming concrete event is the announced unveiling of a record signing on June 9, 2026, the day Benfica confirmed Mourinho’s departure and Silva’s appointment [1, 7, 10, 6, 3, 8, 4, 9, 12].
