Florentino Pérez's campaign celebrates election victory before official data confirmation

Florentino Pérez's campaign team celebrated a victory in the Real Madrid presidential elections on Sunday, even before the electoral board had officially announced the results. The celebration occurred as the night turned into Monday morning, with the official count still pending.

Enrique Riquelme, Pérez's rival, confirmed his defeat from his campaign headquarters. He estimated that his candidacy had garnered between 35 and 40 percent of the votes. Pérez himself offered early remarks, calling it a "great day for madridismo."

The delay in official results was partly attributed to an appeal filed by Pérez's campaign against the disqualification of approximately one thousand mail-in ballots that favored him. This issue with mail-in votes has historically caused delays in announcing official outcomes for Real Madrid elections.

Similar situations occurred in previous elections. In 2006, when Ramón Calderón became president, results were announced the following day after a court order temporarily halted the counting of mail-in votes due to alleged irregularities. Later, the court declared the mail-in vote invalid in 2007, citing a lack of control over voter identification and security measures. Even Pérez's first presidential win in 2000 against Lorenzo Sanz saw official results delayed until the next day.