Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, PP, is facing mounting pressure to explain why her government spent €6.3 million on a luxury residential penthouse that was supposedly intended to provide temporary office space.
The property, in Madrid’s affluent Chamberí district, was purchased in April while offices at the Real Casa de Correos, the headquarters of the regional government, were being renovated.
However, it later emerged that planning regulations permit the penthouse to be used only as a residence, not as an office. The revelation has prompted political opponents and members of Ayuso’s own People’s Party to demand a clearer account of the decision.
According to El País, the regional government specified that the property should measure between 250 and 400 square metres and include a large terrace. Critics have questioned why such requirements were considered necessary for temporary administrative accommodation and why officials apparently approached an estate agent specialising in luxury homes rather than commercial offices.
Ayuso, who has led the Madrid region since 2019, initially dismissed the controversy as a smear campaign. She denied suggestions that the penthouse had been acquired as a home for her, insisting that it was intended to host institutional meetings.
She also claimed that she had not known about the purchase before it became public.
The Madrid government subsequently announced that the penthouse would be sold and that the proceeds would be donated to people affected by this summer’s wildfires near the capital.
Ayuso attempted to draw a line under the dispute by telling reporters that the property was already on the market and that she considered the matter closed. However, the announcement has failed to silence demands for a detailed explanation of how the purchase was approved and why so much public money was spent on a property that could not legally fulfil its stated purpose.
A judge in Madrid is now examining five separate complaints relating to the acquisition.
People’s Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo has said that he is satisfied with the explanations he has received from Ayuso. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that the regional department responsible for the transaction still needed to explain why it bought a residential property that could not be used as an office.
Feijóo also revealed that Ayuso’s team had told him in April that it was looking for temporary offices. That statement appears difficult to reconcile with the Madrid president’s insistence that she knew nothing about the acquisition.
Spain’s Socialist-led central government has described Ayuso’s explanations as “patently insufficient and patently worrying” and called for her resignation.
Opposition politicians have also mocked the requirement for a large terrace, arguing that it was an unusual priority for government office accommodation.
The controversy is particularly damaging because Ayuso has repeatedly accused Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his Socialist Party of corruption. She has built much of her national profile on attacking Sánchez and presenting herself as an outspoken defender of conservative values.
Political scientist Pablo Simón, from Madrid’s Carlos III University, said the absence of clear explanations, combined with the judicial investigation, had caused Ayuso damage among voters on both the left and right.
He believes the affair is unlikely to stop her winning another term in next year’s Madrid regional election. However, it could reduce her support, cost the People’s Party its absolute majority and leave Ayuso dependent on an agreement with the far-right Vox party to remain in office.
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