Isabel Díaz Ayuso appeared very upset and distressed this Friday by the questions journalists asked her hours after the file on the purchase of the penthouse was revealed. The report from Planifica Madrid, the public company that acquired the 6.3 million euro property, details that the president or other visiting authorities could use it as “occasional accommodation,” which opens the door for the president to use it. However, it does not explain who ordered the purchase or why that particular penthouse was chosen. This controversy has followed the president of Madrid since EL PAÍS revealed the existence of this real estate operation. “It’s not for me. I don’t want to know anything about this story. And no matter how much I explain, no matter what I say, it doesn’t matter,” Ayuso said angrily as she left an event she attended.
The president has experienced 50 politically very tough days since the purchase of the penthouse came to light. The opposition claims that the PP government bought it through Planifica Madrid to avoid it going through the Government Council and bypass the voting process in the Madrid Assembly. Until this newspaper published it, the existence of that operation was practically untraceable. Ayuso denies that it was going to be her presidential residence, but the explanations that it was only going to be a workplace or occasional accommodation are not entirely convincing. “What do I care, that’s not my management,” she defended herself, although it is obvious that she had something to do with it. This newspaper exclusively revealed that the president visited the property after the purchase was formalized before a notary.
In fact, she referred to it. She admitted that she went to see it “because if they buy it and I’m looking for a place to move the offices, my office, well, to see it.” “But I didn’t even make the decision, because you rushed so much and such a mess was made that my first explanations were so simple that they didn’t convince,” she continued. Planifica Madrid bought it and was going to rent it to the Presidency Department for 3,000 euros a month. That contract was about to be formalized when the existence of the penthouse became known. Barely 30 hours later, on July 30, the Madrid Government put it back up for sale (the auction is now void). The need to have a property of those characteristics disappeared overnight. “Many properties are looked for. I was looking for a house and I was looking for it myself, not the Community,” Ayuso said about it. “What I do know, and I swear it, and I can prove it in a thousand ways, is that I don’t want a property nor do I want an official residence to live in,” she insisted. She thinks there is no scandal, but that it is a “nonsense,” and if necessary she will “say the little joke about chao, pescao” again.
The Government, faced with the lack of buyers at the auction, will keep the offer permanently until an interested party appears. Ayuso’s circle was sure that the penthouse would sell easily, but believes that all the controversy surrounding it has made investors back off. Ayuso maintains that these inconveniences will not cause losses to the administration. “It’s not lost money because it’s an asset and it will appreciate over time,” she assured.
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Ayuso had been living until now with her partner, businessman and commission agent Alberto González Amador, in an apartment owned by him in the Chamberí neighborhood. González Amador also later acquired a penthouse one floor above. He put both properties up for sale during the months in which the Community of Madrid formalized the purchase of the General Martínez Campos apartment, next to the Sorolla Museum. The president maintains that it was a coincidence: according to her, her partner was not selling the houses because Planifica Madrid had found a place to house them. In fact, she has shown the emails she exchanged with a real estate agency to rent another apartment in the Puerta de Hierro neighborhood, where she currently lives. According to her version, that proves she was not looking for a presidential residence.
The PP leader has said she has nothing to hide. “Go to the real estate agency that rented me this house and you will see that this was long before the EL PAÍS news and you will see that I have not bought a residence to live in. I have not lied. So, what else can I do?” she said, fed up. Then, she explained that she prefers a neighborhood life to have contact with people: “I want to have neighbors, I like having neighbors I talk to. I like living in a community because it’s the only thing I have as a person. When you have the political responsibility that I have, there comes a time when you have no anonymity. You have to have security. You live in very harsh conditions. So, the only thing that gives me joy is having neighbors. That they have their dogs, their children, I like a ‘how are you, president, good morning, how are you?, I brought fruit, I’ll trade it with you.’ Normal neighborly things.”
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