The responsibility for providing all explanations about the purchase of the penthouse will fall on a single person: Miguel Ángel García Martín. The Minister of the Presidency of the Community of Madrid will face questions from the opposition in the Assembly this Thursday regarding the strange and opaque purchase of a luxury home made by the Madrid government in April. No one else. The PP has prevented the CEO of the public company that carried out the real estate operation, Planifica Madrid, from appearing on Monday the 16th in a commission investigating the case, as Más Madrid and PSOE had proposed.
The government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso argues that García Martín is the president of Planifica Madrid and the ultimate person responsible for everything that happens within this company dedicated to managing the heritage and public works of the Community. That is why it sees no need for Pedro Corbalán to speak four days after the minister does. The opposition parties wanted Corbalán because he is the executive who knew for sure what steps were taken to buy this high-end property that has earned the president of Madrid so much criticism.
The purchase of the penthouse was carried out with total opacity within Planifica Madrid, according to various sources. Very few people inside the company knew about the operation. EL PAÍS revealed it on July 29, three months after its purchase. Ayuso initially said that this space would be used as her office temporarily while renovations were made at the current headquarters in Sol. However, it is not possible to install an office in that building, not even a presidential residence. Barely 30 hours after the news from this newspaper, the government announced it would put it back up for sale, as it did in mid-August. The deadline to bid for it ended a week ago, but it is still unknown if there has been a buyer.
PSOE and Más Madrid wanted Corbalán to explain at length why this particular property was purchased, who gave the order, and what it was going to be used for. The file on the operation should, in principle, answer all these questions, but the government refuses to provide it for now. Ayuso has denied that she intended to turn it into her official residence, but at the same time defends that the presidents of Madrid have a house, as in other regions. Corbalán will not be the person to reveal this mystery. The PP has used its majority on the Presidency and Justice Commission board of the Madrid Assembly to oppose his appearance.
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“They have given no argument, they have simply opposed the CEO of Planifica Madrid appearing. There have been no explanations. It has been by force,” explains Juan Varela, co-spokesperson for the Presidency commission on behalf of Más Madrid, by phone. “Not allowing Corbalán to attend the hearing is a brutal lack of transparency. It is the usual opacity. I see a lot of fear. If everything had been done properly, if everything were clean, what problem is there with him coming and explaining it?” Varela continues.
For Más Madrid, Corbalán is the one with the most legal responsibility in the matter, as he is the person in charge of giving the green light to all Planifica Madrid operations. The political leaders, according to their view, are Ayuso and García Martín, but the man who signed and leads the board of directors of Planifica Madrid is Corbalán. “He is the first link in the chain,” Varela concludes.
