The president of the Community, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, was scheduled to appear this Wednesday to report on the worst wildfire crisis the Madrid region has experienced and to announce a package of measures aimed at alleviating the damage to those affected. Thus, in a press conference at the headquarters of the regional government, the Madrid leader detailed the Reconstruction plan, which includes millions of euros in aid intended for individuals, self-employed workers, and local entities. The event coincided with the publication by this newspaper that her government has purchased a luxury penthouse in Chamberí for use as a temporary “office” while a series of renovation works are carried out at the Government Palace in Puerta del Sol. In response to journalists’ questions, Ayuso defended the transparency of the property purchase operation to hold “temporary meetings” during the improvement works at the Sol facilities, which had not been previously disclosed. However, the Popular Party leader adopted a defiant tone, presenting herself as a victim of a “discredit” campaign amid the management of the fires ravaging the community and declined to clarify some crucial issues.
Read more Barcelona will open a daytime climate shelter for homeless people during the summer
“Looking for a place where institutional meetings can be temporarily held seems appropriate to me,” the Madrid president responded to the media. “If it had been a mansion, they would say it’s a mansion; if it had been a house of a certain size, they would say whatever,” Ayuso added, before noting that she does not know “how the temporary move” from Puerta del Sol will be organized or where she will set up her own post during the works at the government headquarters.
“I regret having to manage such an emergency and having to defend myself at this moment from alleged discredit campaigns, which is what has been sought by the timing and the way it is being reported,” Ayuso criticized. “They are waiting to see if people turn against me. At a time when people have lost their homes, their properties, it turns out that they buy a property for me! That is the idea they want to convey, it has been done in very bad faith,” the Popular Party leader criticized, who, in any case, did not want to resolve other doubts raised at the press conference.
Among the unanswered questions are the cost of the luxury penthouse purchase and why a property that was not originally intended for office use was acquired. Also, why the decision was made to buy rather than rent if it is temporary. “Not everything that was sold to buy this property is disclosed,” she argued, pointing out that the “agency” responsible for her government’s real estate matters constantly carries out property disposals—purchases and rentals—and that her administration cannot “de-asset” itself through these operations. “I know there are many property sales,” she assured.
The Madrid president made it clear that she will not use the penthouse as a residence. “It is not my house, it is not my residence. They have not bought anything for Ayuso. I will not have an official residence like many ministers or many presidents of other autonomous communities. I know the purchase is recent and I don’t even know how it was bought or how it is being reported,” she concluded.
The president responds following the publication in this newspaper that the Community has purchased a 485-square-meter penthouse in Chamberí, one of the most expensive areas of the capital, for the president to use “during the rehabilitation of the Royal House of the Post Office, whose works will begin in August,” according to a spokesperson. The news became 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.
After the news was published, a source close to the president explained to this newspaper that the decision on the use of the penthouse as an office “is not one hundred percent made.” They said they will renovate the property and decide on the move in October or November. They also added, when asked, that they do not intend to use it as a presidential residence.
Immediately after the Community’s plans became known, doubts arose about whether it is possible to use a penthouse for institutional offices. The Más Madrid and PSOE groups in the Madrid City Council quickly reacted on Wednesday morning to question whether the regulations allow this use. Both parties believe that in that area of Madrid city, such use is only permitted up to the first floor.
“This is a whim of Ayuso, who is obsessed with luxury penthouses in Chamberí but has very little inclination to pay for them out of her own pocket,” Eduardo Rubiño, deputy spokesperson of Más Madrid in the Madrid City Council, said in statements sent to the press. The PSOE spokesperson on urban affairs, Antonio Giraldo, expressed via the social network X that the rules in that area of Madrid prevent such use. “The General Plan of Madrid DOES NOT allow offices in that building,” he tweeted, indicating that in that part of the city “only institutional use up to the first floor is permitted.”
The purchase was made on April 14 by the autonomous 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.
Read more The former mayor of Linares pardoned: “I am not a corrupt person, the people have saved me”
