The judicial net is partially tightening around the asset management of the Community of Madrid. The Court of Auditors has accepted for processing the accounting liability complaint filed by Más Madrid regarding the purchase of the luxury penthouse on Paseo General Martínez Campos. The proceedings have been transferred to the Adjudication Section, which must now determine whether to open preliminary proceedings or a reimbursement procedure by impact on the operation carried out by the regional company Planifica Madrid.
The move by the oversight body will cause a shake-up of the regional parliamentary board alongside Más Madrid’s filing of a document before the Assembly Board demanding that the regional government immediately deliver all documentation regarding the acquisition of the Chamberí property. The party led by Mónica García has requested to have these documents at least 24 hours before the appearance of the Minister of Presidency, Justice and Local Administration, Miguel Ángel García Martín, scheduled for September 17.
To support their demand, the opposition has relied on Article 111 of the Assembly of Madrid Regulations, which establishes that no debate can begin without prior distribution of the relevant documentation at least 24 hours in advance, unless authorized by the Board or the competent committee. Among the requested documentation are the justification report of the operation, official and external appraisals of the property, analysis of alternatives, and the Board of Directors agreement of Planifica Madrid that authorized the operation, as well as the public deeds of sale.
“Now Ayuso has a legal obligation: to deliver everything,” emphasized Más Madrid’s legal spokesperson, Hugo Martínez Abarca. Along the same lines, the party leader and Minister of Health, Mónica García, described the operation as the “most obscene scandal” experienced in regional politics and accused Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s government of having used public money to “finance the president’s lifestyle.” García also predicted that the case will mean the “end of the road” for the regional president.
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The legal and political turmoil has worsened after revealing a key fact that undermines the official justification of the regional government. At the very moment Planifica Madrid acquired the Chamberí penthouse for 6.3 million euros — under the pretext of temporarily housing the president while works were carried out at the Presidency headquarters in Sol — the public company kept a 478 square meter office empty just meters from Plaza de Castilla.
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It is a large property located on Pedro Moreno street, at the entrance to the future financial city of Madrid Nuevo Norte, which according to El País has dimensions practically identical to those of the luxury residence (485 square meters) and equipped with seven offices, three bathrooms, and administrative areas ready to be used. Although the premises appeared on the official website of the regional entity as available for rent or sale, the Ministry of Presidency has not responded as to why it dismissed the use of this own property before resorting to the private real estate market to acquire a property whose use as an office also contravenes urban planning regulations.
The Assembly Board, where the Popular Party holds an absolute majority, has received the opposition’s request and plans to make a decision in the coming hours. The institutional clash promises to experience its first major assault this week during the State of the Region Debate, where the opposition has announced it will make the shadows of the penthouse case the central focus of scrutiny of Díaz Ayuso’s cabinet.
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