A report from the Ayuso Government puts its narrative about the luxury penthouse against the ropes: its necessity and cost still needed to be justified

The explanations offered this Thursday by the Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso regarding the luxury penthouse in Chamberí have been struck by the documentation that the Madrid Executive itself has decided to publish. While its Minister of the Presidency defended in the Assembly that the operation was completely normal and demanded resignations from the opposition, an internal report warned that the necessity, suitability, and cost of the project were not sufficiently explained.

The document was signed on July 27 by the chief delegated comptroller of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and is part of the dossier of more than 200 pages disseminated after the appearance of Miguel Ángel García Martín. According to 'El País' has revealed, the official considered that the rental had been processed "without delving into the study of necessity, suitability" and other essential economic elements.

Among the shortcomings noted were the absence of a comparison with other similar properties, the scant explanation of the rent and associated expenses, and the lack of a study justifying why that specific penthouse was the appropriate option. The comptroller also warned that she had not received a technical report on the conformity of the intended use with regulations and requested that the entire file include homogeneous data on the surface area of the property.

The pronouncement was favorable and its observations had no suspensive effects, so the processing could continue. This administrative authorization coexists, however, with warnings that directly affect the core of the controversy. The Madrid Government was willing to use public money on a property whose choice and economic conditions had not been developed in sufficient detail.

The Community had agreed to pay Planifica Madrid, the public company that bought the penthouse for 6.3 million euros, a monthly rent of 3,000 euros for ten years. The contract included a grace period of 15 months, so the first payment would have been made in November 2027. Two days after formalizing the lease, the regional government decided to cancel it.

The file strikes the minister's narrative

The documentation known this Thursday further complicates the version maintained by Miguel Ángel García Martín in the Madrid Assembly. The counselor assured that the purchase responded to the ordinary activity of Planifica Madrid and that the penthouse would serve as a complement to the institutional dependencies during the works of the Real Casa de Correos.

The statement of needs published later points in another direction. The document does not mention at any time the works of the Puerta del Sol headquarters and repeats that the Community needed a residential property. It also contemplates a rest area and occasional accommodation for visiting authorities or for the Madrid authorities themselves.

The operation began in February with a confidentiality agreement between Planifica Madrid and the real estate company. The purchase was formalized on April 14, while the report with which the Ministry of the Presidency justified the rental arrived months later. The Community authorized the lease on July 27 and the existence of the penthouse came to light two days later.

Since then, the regional Executive has been modifying its explanation. First, it presented the property as a temporary office for Ayuso during the Sol works. Then it denied that it would become an official residence and this Thursday it has recognized that it was prepared for the occasional accommodation of authorities of the Community of Madrid, including the president herself.

García Martín dedicated a good part of his appearance to attacking "sanchismo", the opposition and Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE). He accused the public television of having spent thousands of hours fabricating a "great lie" to hide the corruption surrounding Pedro Sánchez and his management of the Ceuta crisis. He also demanded that PSOE and Más Madrid apologize to Ayuso and present their resignation.

The counselor maintained that tone while the file that his Government had just distributed contained internal doubts about the justification of the project. The opposition had been demanding the complete documentation of the acquisition for weeks and denouncing that the regional Executive had prevented the auditing of an operation carried out with funds from a public company.

The publication of the report has also coincided with the failure of the first attempt to sell. No buyer has submitted an offer for the 6.7 million euros requested, after Planifica Madrid acquired the property for 6.3 million in April. The Ayuso Government has announced that it will keep the penthouse on the market through an open bidding procedure.