A "work of art" that could only be created by the studio chosen by Isabel Díaz Ayuso's Government. That is the justification used by the Community of Madrid to award the interior design of the Real Casa de Correos reform without a tender to Alejandra Pombo's company.
The argument appears in a brief five-page report incorporated into the file. The Community elevates the commission above a "mere interior design project" and presents it as an artistic creation intended to convey "modernity, elegance, and distinction" in the regional Presidency's headquarters.
The conclusion is blunt. The work "can only be entrusted" to Pombo Estudio, according to the documentation. Before reaching that statement, the report itself acknowledges that the choice of a professional for this type of project "will always be subjective."
The file does not identify an exclusive technique, a patent, an essential previous work, or a specific artistic characteristic that only the selected studio possesses. Nor does it elaborate on the reasons why other Spanish architects and interior designers would be unable to combine the historical character of the Real Casa de Correos with the contemporary image sought by the Madrid Executive.
The Ministry of the Presidency maintains that it requested several proposals to prepare the preliminary project and that the one presented by Pombo Estudio received the best evaluation. The published documentation does not allow knowing which professionals participated, what criteria were applied, or what score each proposal obtained.
An unaccredited artistic exclusivity
The consideration of the reform as a unique artistic performance has a direct consequence. The Public Sector Contracts Law requires service contracts to be open to competition when they exceed 15,000 euros, except in certain exceptional cases.
One of them allows the use of the negotiated procedure without publicity when the contract aims at the creation of a work of art or a unique artistic performance that can only be commissioned from a specific professional. The Community has invoked this exception to justify the direct contracting for 59,377.73 euros.
The report describes the Royal House of the Post Office as a "unique" building and highlights its historical, monumental, and institutional value. Based on these characteristics, the regional Executive states that it needs a person capable of combining the heritage of the property with a "avant-garde, modern, and pragmatic" approach.
The reasoning explains what result the Community wants to achieve, but leaves unanswered the decisive question for applying the legal exception. The file does not demonstrate why Alejandra Pombo would be the only professional capable of achieving that result.
Jesús San Vicente, an architect from the Official College of Architects of Madrid, believes that the document lacks sufficiently substantiated justification. The expert demands to know what heritage elements require the specific intervention of that studio and what qualities prevent other professionals from undertaking the project.
The doubts also extend to the content of the commission. The planned renovation includes the design of spaces, materials, finishes, furniture, lighting, works of art, floors, ceilings, and carpentry. The Community adds actions on air conditioning, electrical installations, structures, awnings, and restoration of ornaments.
The intervention will affect the interior courtyards of the ground floor and the north wing of the second floor, where Ayuso works. As the Royal House of the Post Office is declared an Asset of Cultural Interest, the team must have a qualified architect who will act as the visible head of the project, in addition to a decorator or interior designer. The actions will also have to receive the corresponding heritage authorizations.
An explanation that aggravates the penthouse case
The artistic justification appears within a reform that the Madrid government used to explain the purchase of the luxury penthouse in Chamberí. Planifica Madrid acquired the property on April 14 for 6.3 million euros with the announced intention of temporarily moving Ayuso and a small part of her team there while the works in Sol were being carried out.
The first known document about the reform is dated June 2, seven weeks after the acquisition of the apartment. When Planifica Madrid bought the penthouse, there was no report, specifications, technical project, or budget item for the actions that supposedly made the move urgent.
The new deadlines have amplified these contradictions. Pombo Estudio has three months to draft the project, and the Community estimates another four months to process the tender and award of the works. The works will begin during the first quarter of 2027, almost a year after the purchase of the penthouse and several months later than October, the date Ayuso had advanced.
The estimated budget for carrying out the renovation amounts to 1.64 million euros, and the expected timeframe is twelve months. The Real Casa de Correos could remain under construction until the spring of 2028, although the definitive scope will depend on the project drafted by the studio directly chosen by the Community.
The chronology has led lawyer Javier Flores, who reported the purchase to the Court of Accounts, to argue that the renovation "did not exist" when the property was acquired. Rita Maestre, Más Madrid spokesperson in the City Council, also questions whether an intervention focused mainly on interior renovation justified spending 6.3 million on a provisional office.
The relocation was ultimately ruled out because urban planning regulations only allow residential use of the penthouse. Planifica Madrid has put it up for sale for 6.69 million euros and will keep the deadline for receiving offers open until next September 7.
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