Más Madrid sees Ayuso "unhinged" by the penthouse: "She knows her explanations are not enough"

Isabel Díaz Ayuso's reaction to questions about the penthouse in Chamberí has opened a new political front for her Government. After the Madrid president lashed out at a supposed "state mafia," called the case "nonsense," and assured that the purchase of the property was not her business, the opposition has hardened its criticism and has again demanded clarification on who ordered the operation.

The spokesperson for Más Madrid in the Assembly, Manuela Bergerot, has stated that Ayuso is "unhinged" because "she knows perfectly well that yesterday's and today's explanations are not enough." She has also accused her of having lied "from left to right" since the acquisition of the property by the public company Planifica Madrid became known.

"It is very clear that Ayuso is at her worst moment," Bergerot concluded. Her party considers it especially serious that the president now claims she does not know who gave the order to buy for 6.3 million euros a penthouse that she herself has admitted to having visited.

Ayuso assured this Friday that she went to the property "to see it", given the possibility of moving her office there during the planned works in the Real Casa de Correos. At the same time, she disclaimed responsibility for the operation with an "what do I care, that's not my management" and denied having requested an official residence.

For Más Madrid, these statements leave intact the question that has accompanied the case since July. The file still does not clearly identify who chose that specific penthouse, who promoted its acquisition, and why the operation was formalized before several of the justifications known later appeared.

Más Madrid asks to track the documents

Más Madrid deputy Hugo Martínez Abarca has announced that his group will try to verify when the reports submitted by the regional Executive were actually prepared. The opposition received the file an hour after the Minister of the Presidency, Miguel Ángel García Martín, appeared before the Assembly, when it was already impossible to ask him about its content.

"They have given us scanned papers," warned Martínez Abarca, who demands access to the necessary information to verify the creation and processing date of each document. Más Madrid wants to rule out that any could have been prepared after the purchase to justify an already closed operation.

The formation's suspicions are also based on the content of the dossier. One of the documents contemplates the use of the property as a "permanent or occasional" residence by different authorities, while García Martín limited his explanation before the Assembly to a possible occasional accommodation.

The statement of needs disseminated by the Community is dated July 2, almost three months after Planifica Madrid acquired the home in April. That document raised the convenience of having a property with a work area, rest area, and accommodation for authorities, but it did not expressly link its necessity to the works at Puerta del Sol that the Madrid government wielded when the case became known.

The regional Audit Office itself later pointed out that the necessity and suitability of the operation were not sufficiently developed. The report was favorable and allowed the process to continue, although it left in writing the absence of a detailed analysis of the rent, expenses, available alternatives, and comparison with other similar properties.

Martínez Abarca believes that the operation responds to "a personal whim" and recalls that the penthouse is located near the home where Ayuso lived and in front of her mother's home. This is the political interpretation of Más Madrid, which has already appeared in the open proceedings surrounding the purchase and has also taken the expense before the Court of Accounts.

Óscar López demands Ayuso's resignation

The general secretary of the PSOE of Madrid, Óscar López, has again demanded the resignation of the regional president after hearing her explanations. "First she lost the penthouse and now she has lost her temper," he quipped before linking her reaction to a succession of contradictory versions.

López has rejected that the matter affects Ayuso's privacy, as the popular leader maintains. "The problem is not where she lives. The problem is who pays for it," he said. For the socialist leader, the central issue is the use of public money for a luxury home that could be made available to the Madrid authorities.

The socialist leader has described as “reckless” the preparation of reports after the purchase if their purpose was to justify a previous decision. He has also warned about the possible responsibilities of those who participated in the processing and has announced that the PSOE will keep the offensive open in the Assembly, the courts, and the Court of Accounts.

López has also criticized the decision of the Madrid government to study legal actions for libel and slander against Bergerot and the socialist spokeswoman, Mar Espinar. In his opinion, it is “unthinkable in a 21st-century democracy” for an Executive to threaten to sue spokespersons who scrutinize an operation carried out with public funds.

While the dispute continues, Planifica Madrid has decided to keep the penthouse for sale after the first tender was deserted. The public company will await an offer that meets the conditions set in the specifications, with a starting price close to 6.7 million euros.

The judicial investigation remains in an initial phase. The judge has opened a separate proceeding with the documentation provided by Más Madrid, PSOE, and Iustitia Europa and has asked the Prosecutor's Office to report on the court's jurisdiction. The Court of Accounts, for its part, must analyze the complaint filed to clarify the use of public funds in the operation.