The thousand and one versions of Ayuso with the controversial luxury penthouse

BarcelonaThe 6.3 million euro luxury penthouse acquired by the Community of Madrid has become a thorn in the side for Isabel Díaz Ayuso's government. The controversy, which threatens to grow even larger following the traumatic eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, has reached the courts and also the Court of Auditors. But almost two months after El País exposed the purchase, it remains surrounded by unknowns, changing narratives, and contradictions. A similar situation, tragedy aside, to the one that occurred with Carlos Mazón regarding his role on the day of the DANA in the Valencian Community.

An office or an official residence?

After El País made public the purchase of the property of more than 400 square meters in Chamberí as a "temporary office" for Ayuso's government, the president said: "It is false, I am not buying anything nor is anyone buying anything for me". She admitted that the penthouse —which has a 199-square-meter terrace— had been acquired as a possible place to "host institutional meetings" during renovation work at the Real Casa de Correos, the seat of the regional government, but she denied that it was intended for her personal use and, even less, for living in.

A day later, however, it emerged that the apartment had a license for residential use only. And last week Planifica Madrid —the public company of the Community that made the purchase— made public the documentation regarding the penthouse, in which it is confirmed that an "institutional property of a residential nature" had been sought. "It is a common practice at the state, regional or even local level to have an institutional property of a residential nature or specific dependencies for their use on a permanent or occasional basis by different authorities as support to official headquarters", it justifies.

The documents, in this sense, specify that the property had to have "an area intended for a workspace and an area for rest and occasional accommodation for authorities on an official visit to the Community of Madrid or the authorities of the regional administration themselves". Mention is made of scenarios such as the pandemic lockdowns, but nowhere is there any reference to the renovation work on the Madrid government building.

The sudden sale the day after the scandal

The day immediately following the publication of the scandal, and despite having fiercely justified the purchase, the Madrid government announced that it was putting the apartment up for sale. Without many explanations to justify the sudden plot twist, and without admitting that it was an emergency solution to the controversy, the Community announced that the money obtained would be used for the reconstruction of the areas devastated by this summer's fires.

"It's for sale;see ya, wouldn't wanna be ya", Ayuso herself let slip this August to try to bury the controversy. But last week it was learned that the auction for the property remained empty and that, therefore, no one has wanted to buy the apartment until now. The Minister of the Presidency, Miguel Ángel García Martín, who also chairs the company that manages land in the Community, announced that they will auction it again because the determination is to be able to sell it. The starting price is 6.7 million.

From "I have no idea" to "It didn't seem bad to me"

Ayuso has wanted to shake off responsibility regarding the purchase of the penthouse from the very first moment. And not only did she attribute the case to a "smear" campaign against her, but she went as far as to brush off journalists' questions with an "I have no idea". The president had delegated all explanations to her Minister of the Presidency, who has gone from defending that the penthouse was bought "at the request" of his department to denying that it was any kind of assignment and alleging that the operation was part of the habitual work of Planifica Madrid.

This Thursday, in a new version of the facts, Ayuso herself stated in an interview with Cuatro that the decision to buy the penthouse was made by her "team" and that she endorsed it: "It didn't seem wrong to me," she said. "We have all kinds of properties in the Community, some are sold, some are bought... and we are managing a heritage that is small, in proportion to what the Community of Madrid represents," she limited herself to adding. However, the 224-page documentation provided a week ago by the Community does not specify who ordered the purchase.

A phantom operation

One of the main points of controversy regarding the purchase of the penthouse has to do with the fact that, although Ayuso's government defended it, it was not publicized nor was it included in any budget or transparency portal. It was not until the acquisition made it to the media that it was admitted and, even then, it was not clarified how many millions of public money had been allocated to it. It was once again El País that uncovered the price of 6.3 million euros. According to the official documentation recently revealed, the Community's goal was, once purchased, to rent the apartment to Planifica Madrid for 3,000 euros per month for at least ten years.