The Community of Madrid has purchased a 485 square meter penthouse in Chamberí, one of the most expensive areas of the capital, for use by President Isabel Díaz Ayuso “during the rehabilitation of the Royal House of the Post Office, whose work will begin in August,” according to a spokesperson who responded to EL PAÍS this Tuesday. The news is known three and a half months after the acquisition of the apartment and only after this newspaper raised the question upon discovering the purchase, which appears in the Property Registry.
The spokesperson only specified that Ayuso will work in the property “with a minimum team” and did not answer other questions raised ―whether Ayuso also plans to live there, the purchase price, the reasons why this was kept secret, or why renting a property was not chosen―. It is also unclear which works are being referred to. The Royal House of the Post Office, seat of the Madrid presidency, completed the restoration of its facade last year.
The purchase was made on April 14 by the regional company that markets public land and manages its own offices, Planifica Madrid. This agency, chaired by the Government spokesperson and Minister of the Presidency, Miguel Ángel García Martín, had not included this investment in this year’s budget. The market value of a penthouse with these characteristics in that privileged area is around six million euros.
The penthouse is located on the ninth floor of a building on General Martínez Campos promenade, a residential building on one of the main arteries of the affluent Chamberí district. The block borders the Sorolla Museum, just 300 meters from the Castellana promenade. The seller was economist and writer Astrid Gil-Casares, according to two sources familiar with the operation. A couple lived in the property as tenants.
The property measures 485 square meters, of which 199 correspond to the terrace. Several apartments in the building belong to aristocratic families and, according to a building employee, none are used as offices.
The expense is surprising because it was not planned in Planifica Madrid’s 2026 budget, which does detail other real estate sales or new construction investments in detail. The Government Council has also not granted a credit extension for the purchase of this property (something necessary to incur this type of expense) and, more importantly, Planifica Madrid has not reported the acquisition on its transparency page, last updated on Monday, July 20, where the most relevant ongoing actions are listed.
Planifica Madrid owns ten entire buildings used as offices and a commercial space, which it then leases, in almost all cases to different departments of the Community of Madrid. Most are historic properties in central Madrid with various degrees of protection, such as the Ministry of Health (Calle Aduana, 29) or the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Alcalá, 31).
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The property registrar of the area denied EL PAÍS’s request to know the identity of the seller, arguing that the applicant must have “a direct, legitimate, and patrimonial interest.” However, two sources familiar with this purchase indicated that it is Gil-Casares. This writer was married until 2016 to Rafael del Pino Calvo-Sotelo, the president of Ferrovial and the second richest man in Spain,
The price paid for the penthouse is unknown, but several sources suggest it may have been around six million euros. To get an idea of the amount, one would have to multiply the 486 square meters by the price per square meter in the postal code of the Almagro neighborhood, where the property is located, which according to the Notary portal is 9,414 euros. This amounts to 4.5 million euros. To this, a premium should be added for being a penthouse that mainly depends on the size of the terrace. This one, specifically, at 200 square meters, is so large that the price can be much higher. On real estate portals, penthouses with large terraces are offered at prices ranging between five and seven million euros.
The terrace of almost 200 square meters is so large that one of the real estate experts in Almagro, the manager of the Don Chamberí office on General Martínez Campos Promenade, responds that he has never seen anything like it: “I don’t know a penthouse like this. I don’t think it exists.”
Company with a dark past
Planifica Madrid is the heir to Arpegio, the public company that was involved in a major scandal known as the Púnica case, and which is under judicial investigation. This company is involved in one of the pieces of the macrocase for allegedly participating in irregularities committed in the awarding of public land and infrastructure contracts. At that time, Francisco Granados, a trusted man of Esperanza Aguirre, was a company board member. The piece related to these alleged riggings was sent to trial in May. Granados, who has already been convicted of other crimes, will be tried there.
The company is attached to García Martín’s Ministry of the Presidency, has a staff of 90 employees, and its budget for 2026 is 127 million euros. Its CEO since July 2023 is Pedro Corbalán Ruiz, who previously held positions in the regional administration within successive Popular Party governments.
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