Three and a half months ago, the Community of Madrid acquired a 485-square-meter penthouse on General Martínez Campos street, in the heart of the Chamberí district, for the regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso to use as a “temporary office” while the rehabilitation of the Royal Post Office is carried out, according to El País.
According to sources from the Community of Madrid, the works on the headquarters of the regional Government, in Puerta del Sol, will start “in August” and during the time they last, the president will carry out her duties “with a minimum team” from that luxurious penthouse. Of the total area, 199 square meters correspond to the terrace. The building is next to the Sorolla Museum, 300 meters from the Castellana and very close to the home where Ayuso was raised.
The Madrid president has justified the purchase by a public company arguing that the penthouse will be used for “institutional meetings provisionally” and attributes the fuss over the real estate operation to another of the “discredit campaigns promoted by the Government and its allied press.”
“It is not my house, it is not my residence, it is not for me. It is the discredit campaign. I am not buying anything, nothing is being bought for me. Properties are bought and sold. This administration cannot divest itself of assets,” she emphasized.
In a statement after the extraordinary meeting of the Government Council due to the fires in the western mountain range of the region, Díaz Ayuso explained that works will be carried out at the official headquarters of the regional Government and some members of her Executive will have to work from that property.
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The price may be around 6 million
The price of the property has not been disclosed, but according to real estate market sources, a property of those characteristics in one of the wealthiest districts of the capital can cost up to 6 million euros. The apartment was acquired from the writer Astrid Gil-Casares, ex-wife of the president of Ferrovial, Rafael del Pino Calvo-Sotelo.
It was acquired by the public company Planifica Madrid, chaired by the presidency counselor Miguel Ángel García Martín. It is striking that this public company concealed the purchase, which until yesterday was not listed in the registry, and the Government Council did not request any credit extension for this type of operation.
The PSOE of Madrid demands explanations for this acquisition because it perceives “irregularities” in it. And it wonders why a property was not rented instead of carrying out a purchase. The socialist councilor Antonio Giraldo has denounced that the purchase of the penthouse “raises serious urban planning doubts, since it is for residential use and the regulations do not allow an office to be established on that floor.” For this reason, the socialist municipal group demands that “the real use of the property be clarified.”
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