The Illustrious College of Physicians of Madrid (Icomem) has already completed a year of crisis, since December 17, 2024, in which doctors were called to the polls to elect the new board of directors of the institution that represents the almost 52,000 professionals of the Community of Madrid, and the largest of its type in Spain. Tomás Merina, a doctor and businessman supported by the Amyts union, then emerged victorious with his Icomem Para Todos candidacy, obtaining 47% of the votes, but his accession to power was interrupted and, in his place, the previous president, Manuel Martínez Sellés, remained in a sort of government throughout 2025. de facto. Between legal scandals, cross-accusations, clashes over economic management and controversial opinions on issues that concern the profession, which also experienced a turbulent year, Icomem ends 2025 mired in the worst institutional crisis in its recent history.
The year began with the announcement that Tomás Merina would not be able to take office on January 22 as planned, because the College Resources Commission had invalidated his candidacy. This collegial body alleged that Merina did not meet the conditions to be a candidate because she did not practice the profession. The newly elected president denied the accusation and took the matter to court, which initially rejected the extremely protective and precautionary measures and has since held both sides in suspense. Martínez Sellés remains in power long after his mandate expires because the school’s statutes do not provide for the steps to follow in this situation because it is absolutely unusual.
Icomem Para Todos remained in a constant battle throughout 2025 against the board of directors of Martínez Sellés, who in turn accuses Merina of her relationship with the medical union and her alleged unsuitability for the position. The president-elect defends such a position and, from this position, he has accused Martínez Sellés of remaining “silent” in the face of some of the main problems that have affected doctors and in particular those in Madrid, who have also experienced intense months, although this statement is not entirely accurate.
The Order of Physicians has taken a public position on issues such as the creation of a new framework status by the Ministry of Health, a controversy that brought thousands of professionals to the streets against Minister Mónica García’s proposal. The positions of both sides have in fact been very similar, in favor of the creation of a specific status for the medical profession which includes a response to all the historical requirements of the sector.
At the regional level, this year, the register of doctors opposed to abortion that the Ministry of Health requested from all autonomy was very controversial and that the Community of Madrid refused to create because, according to President Isabel Díaz Ayuso, it was not going to “distinguish and persecute those who abort or those who perform or do not perform abortions.” In this case, the position of Icomem has been the same as that of the regional government – on other occasions the school has been accused of its links with the Ministry of Health of Madrid – opposing in a statement the creation of a mechanism that “represents a direct threat to the right to conscientious objection”. According to Martínez Sellés to this newspaper, the school actively participated in carrying out a survey “among all gynecologists and gynecology residents in Madrid”, in which they claim to have been able to verify “that the majority of them are concerned about the existence of these lists”.
Another big controversy of the year was triggered by the publication by EL PAÍS of audios in which the CEO of Ribera Salud asked several directors of the Torrejón hospital to increase profits by ignoring patients who were causing losses. In this case, the school has not commented publicly. Merina attributes the silence to the conflict of interest that occurs with the presence of María Cordón, daughter of the founder of the Quirón Group and former general director of the company, as a member of the board of directors of Martínez in the position of spokesperson for doctors in free practice, and who, in June of this year, was announced as a new signing of the board of directors of Ribera Salud.
However, Martínez Sellés clarifies that Cordón “was an independent consultant for a few months”, but that this working relationship has already ended and that she has only “words of gratitude” for her fight to prevent private medicine from being “demonized”. Regarding the words of the CEO of Ribera at the Torrejón Hospital, he adds that “obviously a company that works in the health sector aims to make money, but we cannot allow this to have a negative impact on patient care.” He emphasizes that he defends “good practices and quality of care” in all areas.
Another accusation launched by his opponent is that of having squandered the school’s accounts to continue the reforms he undertook during the last legislature in several spaces of the main headquarters and then rent them to foreigners. With this income, Martínez Sellés had promised in the past to “make the school financially independent”, whose main source of financing has always been the compulsory quarterly contribution paid by each member. The current interim president had lowered these quotas in 2024, but earlier this year he reversed that decision and increased them again. “I defend the lowest possible contribution because, membership being compulsory, we must strive to have an austere and efficient school,” says the current president.
But the renovation work continued. According to the latest external audit of Icomem’s accounts, which analyzed the entire year 2024, it was revealed that the school started that year with 4.2 million euros in its coffers and finished with just over 66,000. As in previous years, the work experienced cost overruns: of the 1.4 million euros planned for this item, 4.7 million were ultimately spent, i.e. a difference of 224%. Martínez Sellés emphasizes that he has “little doubt” that this investment has added value to the headquarters spaces and that this “will also have a long-term economic benefit”. Although the audit indicates that the Council hoped to raise around two million euros in 2024 for the rental of its rooms, it only obtained 809,000 euros for this concept.
Martínez Sellés assures that the school currently has 3.6 million euros in its coffers, although this year’s accounts have not yet been analyzed. Merina, for his part, says that if the judge agrees with him and he can ascend to the position of president, one of his first tasks will be to carry out a financial audit and a legal audit of the last five years.
On this last aspect, he questions the decision of the Board of Directors not to convene the two planned Annual Meetings of the Compromisarios, during which half of the members of the highest decision-making body of Icomem analyze the accounts and submit the new shares to a vote. The current president responds that “the electoral process is judicialized” and that this prevents them from launching a new appeal.
According to Merina’s legal team, the contentious-administrative appeal pending before the courts will be resolved between February and March 2026, the response to which must put an end to the Icomem blockade. Merina is convinced that she will finally be able to hold the position she won in the elections. If this happens, he will have to take charge of a school which suffers from the disaffection of a good part of its 52,000 members, as evidenced by the participation in the last elections, which was only 18% – the previous elections had recorded 13% -.
Martínez Sellés considers it “very unlikely” that the judge “will allow a doctor who does not practice to become president”, but if he does, he says he will accept the decision and will call new elections as soon as possible, in which he will not present himself as a candidate. He specifies that if he has not already done so, “it is because Tomás Merina did not respect the decision of the Resources Commission and judicialized this process.”
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