Ayuso demands the full invoice for the official eclipse event while hiding who paid for her ten days in Mexico

Isabel Díaz Ayuso has demanded this Thursday that the Government publish every last euro spent on the official event organized to follow the solar eclipse from the Yebes Observatory. The Madrid president demands to know the cost of drivers, escorts, hotels, lunches and dinners while keeping unclear who paid for those same concepts during her controversial ten-day trip to Mexico.

"These ministers go to a party like kings and say they have spent 72,000 euros," Ayuso wrote on X. The popular leader called that figure "false" and asked for the "entire waste" to be explained.

The 72,358 euros exist and correspond to the contract awarded by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology, dependent on the Ministry of Science. The company Fandom Comunicación was the only one that submitted a bid and charged 59,800 euros plus VAT for drafting the technical project, adapting the spaces, and undertaking the assembly, disassembly, and auxiliary services.

The contractual amount may exclude ordinary security costs or official travel, so requesting a complete breakdown is legitimate. Ayuso, however, has not provided any data that would allow declaring the published amount false and has presented the entire day as a private celebration of four ministers.

The event brought together about 300 people for nine hours, including scientists, popularizers, representatives of the space sector, journalists, and guests. There were visits to the observatory, workshops, projections in a planetarium, catering, beverage service, transportation, and a concert by La Habitación Roja. A reserved area for authorities and media was also set up.

Diana Morant, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Óscar López, and Ángel Víctor Torres attended. Pedro Sánchez remained in Lanzarote and did not go to the observatory.

Mexico still without full invoice

The level of detail that Ayuso now demands from Moncloa disappears when the questions affect her own Government. The Transparency Portal of the Community of Madrid only attributes 623.28 euros to her for her trip to Mexico last May. The two published amounts correspond to the use of the Barajas authorities lounge before flying and after returning.

Flights, hotels, meals, internal travel, or living expenses during the ten days she remained outside Spain do not appear under her name. The president maintains that she can only publish what was charged to the regional accounts, but she has also not identified the companies, institutions, or individuals who financed the rest of her stay.

Three officials who traveled with her did declare 14,750 euros. The Minister of Culture, Mariano de Paco, reported 6,600 euros; the General Director of Tourism and Hospitality, Laura Martínez Cerro, 4,200; and the Director of Management of the Teatros del Canal, Ruperto Merino, another 3,950.

The PSOE-M has registered a series of questions in the Assembly to ascertain the total cost, accommodation, flights, and living expenses of Ayuso. Óscar López has also opened the door to going to court to obtain this information. Más Madrid demands to know who assumed the payments and if there was any quid pro quo.

The opacity also extends to the luxury penthouse acquired by Planifica Madrid to use as the president's provisional office. The public company paid 6.3 million euros for a 481-square-meter home that was not in its budget nor initially appeared on its transparency portal. After the operation became known, the Madrid government backed down and put the property up for sale for 6.69 million.

An accusation against Sánchez denied by experts

Ayuso had already taken advantage of the eclipse to attack Pedro Sánchez. Hours before the phenomenon, she accused the president of endangering citizens' eyesight by recommending the use of glasses without allegedly warning about the risks of using them for too long.

"Experts indicate the irreversible damage that thinking you can look at the Sun uninterruptedly just by wearing glasses can cause to your eyesight. Since this man is a danger, he won't warn you. You're welcome," she wrote.

The statement mixes a prudent recommendation with a conclusion lacking scientific backing. Specialists advise making brief observations and resting one's eyes, but there is no evidence that exceeding a specific time with approved, intact, and correctly used glasses causes irreversible damage. Pauses are mainly for prevention and eye fatigue.

Sánchez also did not recommend looking directly at the Sun without precautions. In his video, he expressly asked to use "protective glasses." The Ministry of Consumer Affairs had also disseminated a complete guide that required ISO 12312-2 certification, CE marking, and maintaining protection during all partial phases.

The Secretary of Organization of the PSOE-M, Pilar Sánchez Acera, responded that she initially believed the message came from a fake account. "The reality is that she has become a parody of herself," she wrote. Journalist Sarah Santaolalla also replied to Ayuso, reminding her of the penthouse bought by her Government with public money.

In her second message, Ayuso added that Spain is "invaded by Morocco" and that the agents sent to Ceuta "never arrived." The Madrid president thus again uses the language of the far-right Vox to turn a border and humanitarian crisis into another personal offensive against Sánchez, while demanding from others a transparency that she still resists practicing in the Puerta del Sol.