The PSOE spokesperson in the Madrid Assembly, Mar Espinar, has criticized the political drift of the Popular Party and the regional president of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, during her intervention in ‘Cuestión de Escaños’, ElConstitucional TV’s program, a few weeks before the general elections on November 29.
Espinar has maintained that Vox's influence over the Popular Party has ended up conditioning both the party's national leadership and its political strategy. “I believe that Vox has swallowed up the Popular Party,” the socialist leader affirmed.
According to the PSOE-M spokesperson, when Vox enters the scene, “we have a Popular Party that takes to the hills,” although she has raised the question of whether the Popular Party no longer knows how to return from that position or if, directly, “they have stayed there because they are quite comfortable.”
“It is obvious that Vox is setting the pace for this Popular Party, for a Feijóo for whom, when Abascal doesn't set it, Ayuso does,” Espinar pointed out, also accusing the regional president of being comfortable within what she has called “Trumpism.”
The socialist spokesperson has linked this position to different political actions by Ayuso and has assured that the regional president maintains “the same way of doing politics as Mr. Trump.” Among other examples, she cited her positions on Gaza, her praise for Donald Trump, or the decoration awarded to the Argentine president, Javier Milei.
During the interview, Espinar also spoke about one of the latest controversies surrounding the Madrid government: the purchase of the luxury penthouse in Chamberí by Planifica Madrid, a public company dependent on the Community of Madrid, whose acquisition is being judicially investigated.
For the socialist leader, the main unknown continues to be determining who gave the order to acquire the property. “The key is who ordered the purchase of that penthouse,” she affirmed.
Espinar has defended that from PSOE-M they have always considered that the property was directly linked to the regional president. “That penthouse was a penthouse commissioned by Mrs. Ayuso in her lifelong neighborhood, in front of her mother's house. There is no way to understand another version,” she assured.
The socialist spokesperson has also questioned the different explanations offered regarding the intended use for the property. As she recalled, initially there was talk of offices despite its use being residential and, subsequently, the regional government defended that it could be used for institutional events.
Espinar believes that Ayuso has managed for years to overcome the different controversies that have affected her political and personal environment. “Ayuso's problem is that she has believed herself to be above good and evil,” she stated.
The PSOE-M leader mentioned in this regard the controversy related to the president's brother during the pandemic and the judicial procedure affecting her partner, Alberto González Amador. In her opinion, until now the political consequences of these controversies have ended up affecting other figures before Ayuso herself.
However, Espinar believes that the penthouse controversy could mark a turning point. “There is nothing worse than taking Madrid residents for fools. And Ayuso has done it: she has thought that she can do and undo whatever she wants without being caught or that, if she is caught, it won't cost her,” she pointed out.
For this reason, the socialist spokesperson believes that this latest controversy could end up having a different impact on the Madrid president. “I think this with the penthouse is over. This last penthouse has been the penthouse that broke the camel's back,” Espinar concluded.
