The case of the luxury penthouse in Chamberí acquired by the Community of Madrid has experienced a qualitative leap in recent hours that tightens the seams of the regional government led by Isabel Díaz Ayuso. What began as a first-rate political controversy due to shadows of opacity and the changing explanations from Puerta del Sol has formally entered the courts, after the head of the Madrid Court of Instruction number 8, Judge Rosario de Fátima Espinosa, opened preliminary proceedings related to five complaints focused on the purchase of a property worth 6.3 million euros executed by a Madrid public company.
The procedural dimension change has accelerated following the complaint filed by the party Iustitia Europa, after which the judge opened preliminary proceedings. The Madrid Provincial Prosecutor’s Office then proceeded to forward all complaints to the court, since the opening of a judicial investigation prevents the public prosecutor from maintaining a parallel action on the same facts.
Also read
The complaints are not currently directed against specific individuals but expose facts that could constitute crimes of embezzlement of public funds, malfeasance, disloyal administration, and fraud. However, the Iustitia Europa document explicitly contemplates that if the investigation reveals rational indications against the regional president or the Minister of Presidency, Justice and Local Administration, Miguel Ángel García Martín, the case must be referred to the Supreme Court due to their status as privileged defendants. Likewise, the decree by which the Prosecutor’s Office recuses itself demands a detailed investigation into the actions carried out by the Board of Directors of Planifica Madrid, the public company that formalized the purchase.
The submitted documents request key proceedings such as the examination of the complete file of the operation, necessity reports, appraisals, urban legality, and details of real estate commissions. For its part, the PSOE – which has confirmed its appearance in the case – poses an uncomfortable dilemma for the regional government. According to its complaint, the Community may have incurred in a “very serious negligent irresponsibility” by acquiring a property for a purpose that has proven impossible to fulfill or, on the contrary, the justification offered has been uncertain from the beginning and the real objective was to have a residential-use home. The socialists consider that the subsequent decision to put the apartment up for sale in a “hasty” manner constitutes an additional indication of irregularity.
The leader of PSOE-M, Óscar López, has taken advantage of the referral of the documents to the court to increase political pressure: “Justice is finally investigating the case of the super luxury penthouse,” he said before confirming that he will attend the case to “ensure all responsibilities are clarified” and demand that “every last cent” be returned to the people of Madrid. The minister for Digital Transformation and Public Administration also accused the regional president of making citizens pay for her “easy life”: “We already knew Ayuso had no shame, but now she has no escape either,” he declared.
Read more Guide on what to do, and what not to do, to enjoy the eclipse in Barcelona
The opening of the judicial route has coincided with a significant change in Ayuso’s communication strategy. The Madrid president has stopped taking questions in her latest public appearances following the growing discomfort she has shown regarding questions about the property and, above all, due to the regional government’s inability to offer a single version explaining a 6.3 million euro expenditure.
Her appearance this Monday to report on the fires in the Sierra Oeste was revealing: the president attended without taking questions, in a format carefully designed by her communication team after the discomfort she showed last Saturday when confronted with contradictions from her cabinet. The regional government initially justified the 6.3 million purchase as a temporary office due to works at the Royal House of the Post Office, but that initial version has given way to nuances and inconsistencies that still do not clarify why a public administration acquired a luxury penthouse for supposedly temporary use.
The retreat from the media grants some room for maneuver to Puerta del Sol, but the judicialization irreversibly alters the scenario. Political explanations are no longer the only front open for the regional government: with a court in the capital examining the legality of the operation and the PSOE appearing in the case, the penthouse case transcends the reputation crisis to fully enter the criminal field.
Read more The most macabre eclipse
