The president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, visited the controversial attic in Chamberí acquired by the public company Planifica Madrid to assess the possibility of temporarily moving her office there during the planned works at the Royal Post Office.
The environment of the popular leader has confirmed for the first time to El País that Ayuso personally knew the property, although they maintain that the visit took place after the Community of Madrid formalized the purchase and not before making the decision.
“She went to visit a possibility, not a decision”, explains the president's team. According to this version, the final decision on the relocation of the office was left for the end of October, depending on the progress of the works at the regional Government headquarters at Puerta del Sol.
Ayuso visited the attic in June or early July
Planifica Madrid bought the attic on April 14 for 6.3 million euros. Ayuso's visit would have taken place in June or early July, before the operation was publicly revealed at the end of that same month.
From the Community of Madrid, they assert that the president did not intervene in the selection or acquisition of the property. Before closing the purchase, the attic would have been visited by some of her collaborators.
“You don’t buy blindly. Before the purchase, of course, someone from the Government had to see it to make the decision to buy it. And obviously, it wasn’t the president,” they point out from Sol.
The spokesperson for the regional Executive and Minister of Presidency, Justice and Local Administration, Miguel Ángel García Martín, responded this Wednesday with an “obvious” when asked whether Ayuso or any of her collaborators had personally examined the property.
However, García Martín has insisted that it is “absolutely false” that the Community of Madrid bought the attic exclusively for the president.
An earlier visit to her “I have no idea”
The confirmation attests that Ayuso personally knew the attic before the operation was made public. The president, however, stated on August 5 that she had “no idea” about the details of the acquisition and referred the explanations to the Minister of Presidency.
The visit after the purchase does not prove that Ayuso knew or authorized the operation beforehand, but confirms that the property was expressly evaluated as a possible temporary location for her office.
When the purchase was known, the president denied that the attic was intended to become an official residence.
“It is not for me, it is not my house, it is not my residence. I am not buying anything,” said Ayuso, who attributed the publication of the operation to a “discrediting campaign.”
From her environment, they also deny that Alberto González Amador, the president's partner, participated in the visit or had any relation to the acquisition. “Amador is not a member of the Government nor does he have anything to do with the regional Administration,” they point out.
An attic that cannot be used as an office
The attic is located at number 35 of General Martínez Campos Avenue, in the Madrid district of Chamberí. The property has 485 square meters and was acquired as a possible space for meetings and receiving visitors while the works at the Royal Post Office were being developed.
However, the urban planning regulations of Madrid do not allow the installation of an office or a public service use on the attic floor of a residential building like this one. The property is located on the ninth floor and could only accommodate a limited domestic professional office linked to its use as a residence.
The justification report for the reform project of the Sol headquarters is dated June 2, several weeks after Planifica Madrid purchased the attic.
The operation was also not publicly communicated by the regional Government nor did it initially appear in the Transparency Portal. Its existence became known at the end of July through journalistic information.
The Community tries to sell it for 6.7 million
A day after the purchase became known, the Community of Madrid announced its decision to dispose of the property. The attic was formally put up for sale on August 7 for 6.7 million euros, about 400,000 euros more than the price paid in April.
The regional Executive announced that the income obtained would be used to finance part of the reconstruction actions after the fires recorded in the Sierra Oeste of Madrid.
The deadline for submitting offers ends on September 7. The Community has clarified that potential buyers will not be able to visit the property before submitting their proposals.
The confirmation of Ayuso's visit keeps the main uncertainties of the operation open: who ordered the search for the property, who decided on its acquisition, what reports justified the expenditure, and why a residence was purchased that could not be legally used as an office.