The challenge launched by Isabel Díaz Ayuso to the opposition has taken barely three days to stumble upon the papers that her own Government still has not delivered. After proclaiming in the Assembly that she would resign if it was proven that she had lied about the luxury penthouse in Chamberí, Más Madrid and the PSOE denounce that they still cannot access the complete file of the purchase.
The two groups have again requested the documentation this Monday before the appearance of the Minister of the Presidency, Miguel Ángel García Martín, scheduled for Thursday. The leader is also president of Planifica Madrid, the public company that acquired for 6.3 million euros a property of 485 square meters and a terrace close to 200.
The absence of the file conditions parliamentary control. The deputies will have to question the highest responsible of the company without knowing the reports, appraisals and administrative decisions that supported the operation. The document would allow clarifying who promoted the purchase, what alternatives were studied, how its necessity was justified and why a luxury home was chosen to install provisional offices.
According to 'elDiario.es', Más Madrid and the PSOE again requested the papers during the Board of Spokespersons. The socialist spokesperson, Mar Espinar, has also denounced that the PP majority has rejected the questions expressly addressed to Ayuso about the property, despite the fact that the president assured during the Debate on the State of the Region that she was willing to submit to any scrutiny.
From "if I have lied, I resign" to an inaccessible file
The spokesperson for Más Madrid, Manuela Bergerot, has accused Ayuso of using the Assembly to "practice censorship" and hide behind her minister. In her opinion, García Martín will have to "take the blame" for an operation that still lacks a complete documentary explanation.
"She has made him a scapegoat to continue hiding," said Bergerot, who described the acquisition as a "purchase that stinks of corruption no matter how you look at it". The leader questioned why Ayuso dedicated part of her speech last week to talk about the heritage of other autonomous communities while avoiding clearing up the unknowns about the penthouse.
Mar Espinar has also ironized about the president's willingness to be accountable. The socialist spokesperson maintains that the PP has rejected the questions she intended to ask her about the operation and wonders if the groups will receive the file before Thursday's appearance.
The contradiction is especially uncomfortable after the challenge made by Ayuso from the rostrum. "If I have lied, I resign. And if you have lied, you resign," she affirmed, denying that the property was intended as an official residence. Her response left pending questions about the origin of the purchase and the person who ordered the search for a home with those characteristics.
Planifica Madrid acquired the penthouse on April 14 to initially use it as a temporary office for the Presidency during future works in the Real Casa de Correos. Those works were not yet awarded and the public company also had an empty office of 478 square meters next to Plaza de Castilla, just seven less than the Chamberí property.
The purchase remained off the transparency portal until it was revealed by the press. Once the controversy erupted, the Madrid government announced that it would sell the penthouse and set a starting price of 6.69 million euros. That turn also did not clarify why 6.3 million were spent on a property that ended up back on the market a few months later.
The PP of Madrid responds with attacks and avoids committing to the delivery
The first refusal to provide the file was based on the fact that it contained information that could affect third parties. That justification lost strength after the seller, Astrid Gil-Casares, authorized Planifica Madrid in writing to disseminate the details related to the operation. Transparency must rule again on the request during this month of September.
The PP spokesperson in the Assembly, Carlos Díaz-Pache, has responded to the criticisms by accusing Más Madrid and the PSOE of being "killjo" and "sad" for not celebrating the Formula 1 Grand Prix. Regarding the documents, he has limited himself to pointing out that the Board of Spokespersons lacks the authority to decide on their delivery.
Díaz-Pache has called the claim a "legal absurdity" and has assured that the opposition is "a bit lost". He has also defended that it is an "absolutely transparent and normal" real estate operation, although the file that would allow it to be verified remains out of reach of the parliamentary groups.
The PP's response shifts the discussion towards the procedure chosen to request the documents, while avoiding committing to a date for their publication. The opposition demands to receive them before Thursday so that García Martín's appearance can serve as a true exercise of oversight and not be reduced to the oral version of the head of Planifica Madrid himself.
The penthouse already focused a large part of the Debate on the State of the Region. Más Madrid called Ayuso "corrupt" and the PSOE demanded her resignation. This Thursday, the questions will return to the Assembly with García Martín sitting before the groups and the file still pending to appear.
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