The Community of Madrid backtracks and puts up for sale the penthouse that it had supposedly acquired for temporary office use for Isabel Díaz Ayuso and her team on General Martínez Campos Avenue while works were being carried out at Puerta del Sol.
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After the controversy and all the unknowns surrounding this purchase, the Madrid Executive has backtracked and in less than 24 hours has put up the “for sale” sign on the super luxury apartment, right in the Madrid neighborhood of Chamberí.
The Minister of Presidency, Justice and Local Administration, Miguel Ángel García Martín, unexpectedly announced the news that the Community of Madrid has decided to sell the Chamberí penthouse acquired by the regional government to “help in the reconstruction” after the large fire in the Sierra Oeste.
He stated this from San Martín de Valdeiglesias, one of the municipalities most affected by the latest fire. There he detailed that he has instructed the public company Planifica Madrid to put up for sale four properties owned by the Community of Madrid on Gran Vía and also the penthouse on General Martínez Campos Avenue. The regional administration expects to obtain income of 20 million euros from the sale of the five properties.
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According to information from the regional government, the public company Planifica Madrid has started the process of selling several properties in order to increase, with the proceeds from the operation, the budget allocated to the reconstruction of the Sierra Oeste after the fire.
Heritage of the Community of Madrid
The purchase of the 485-square-meter property, including a terrace, took place last April, according to El País published yesterday. Hours later, Ayuso acknowledged the acquisition and justified that the property was going to be used for “institutional meetings.” She did not reveal the purchase price, nor why the chosen location was near her private residence, nor why renting offices was not chosen if it was for a transitional period while renovations were carried out at the Puerta del Sol headquarters. Yesterday, Ayuso said that the Community of Madrid “could not divest itself of assets.” This Thursday, 24 hours later, she announced the sale of the luxury apartment and those other four properties.
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The opposition’s stance
The spokesperson for Más Madrid in the Madrid Assembly, Manuela Bergerot, and the secretary general of PSOE-M, Óscar López, stated this Thursday that “the only reason the Ayuso penthouse, bought with public money, is being sold is because we caught her.”
Through her social networks, Bergerot emphasized that “the shame is so great that she has to use the pain of the Madrid fires, which she herself could have prevented, to cover up her defeat.”
For his part, the secretary general of PSOE-Madrid said that the regional president “was getting a free apartment without telling anyone,” but “she was caught.” “Another lie, but they don’t fool anyone,” he asserted.
López stressed that “they cannot answer anything,” but emphasized that “we will keep asking.” In this regard, he demanded that “they show the file and clarify how much the new luxury penthouse was going to cost Madrilenians.”
Regarding the destination of the proceeds from the sale of these properties, Minister Miguel Ángel García recalled that the Government Council agreed yesterday on a set of more than 50 actions valued at nearly 100 million euros aimed at recovering the burned areas in 17 Madrid municipalities. Among the measures that the Madrid Executive will activate to recover the areas affected by the fire are aid to facilitate access to housing (there are 100 primary residences burned), psychosocial support, repair of damaged infrastructure, or tax breaks, along with aid for self-employed workers, merchants, farmers, and ranchers, as well as plans to recover natural heritage.
Works at the Royal Post Office
According to sources from the regional government, renovations at the Royal Post Office will continue this summer with the planned works, which began in 2025, and which during this period were to affect the courtyards and second floor, “to maintain in the best conditions a building over 250 years old declared a Cultural Interest Asset (BIC).” The second floor is known as the noble floor, within the five-story building, because it houses the presidency offices and Ayuso’s office.
Finally, the regional administration emphasized that the Community of Madrid will continue looking, within its real estate heritage, for “spaces that meet the necessary conditions to relocate the activity of the Royal Post Office while these works last.” Ayuso spoke about air conditioning. Precisely, she possibly wants to equip her workplace with aerothermal installations because she mentioned lifting floors, when there is great controversy in the Community of Madrid over the lack of air conditioning in public schools.
The striking thing about the operation was that a residential apartment had been acquired for office use, which is not allowed by municipal regulations. And that it was a purchase, when the most logical thing would have been to rent a property for the period the works in Sol last. Added to this is that it was a luxury apartment very close to another home that Ayuso owns and also close to two that her boyfriend, Alberto González-Amador, owns in the Chamberí neighborhood.
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