In May 2018, Irene Montero and Pablo Iglesias bought a single-family home in the La Navata development in Galapagar, northwest of Madrid. Iglesias was then Podemos secretary-general and Montero the party’s parliamentary spokesperson in Congress. They financed the purchase with a €540,000 mortgage from Caja de Ingenieros, taken out jointly for 30 years. The couple initially assumed half each, or €270,000 apiece, information from El País.
The property was reported at the time at approximately €660,000, with the couple contributing around €120,000 toward the purchase. They said the down payment and renovations were paid for partly with savings; Montero also borrowed from her father for part of the financing. The house has about 268 square metres of built area on a plot of roughly 2,000 square metres. It is described as having three bedrooms, plus gardens and a swimming pool, as well as a separate guest house of about 48 square metres. ABC reported the €660,000 figure as the property’s historical value. The purchase drew political controversy amid Podemos’s criticism of inequality, housing speculation and established-party privileges. Montero and Iglesias publicly defended the home as a place for family life rather than a speculative investment. A separate Spanish property story covered a consumer ministry case over holiday-rental listings in the rental case report.
The latest public asset declaration available for Montero was published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado on 30 March 2024, before she left the government as minister for Equality. It recorded €315,486.85 in real estate and €48,129.21 in bank deposits. The filing also listed €50,000 in life insurance and pension plans, bringing her declared assets to €413,616.
After subtracting declared liabilities of €270,000, the resulting net figure is €143,616. It shows the information in that 2024 filing, rather than a current valuation of her overall wealth.
Montero became a Podemos member of the European Parliament in summer 2024 and joined the GUE/NGL group. The salary figure given for the post is €11,255.26 gross per month, or €135,063.12 a year across 12 payments. After EU tax and European contributions, the stated monthly amount is €8,772.70 net, before any possible Spanish tax withholding.
Parliamentary expense payments are separate from that salary. The monthly allowance is €4,950 for office operations and equipment, as well as administrative expenses; it can be reduced if a member misses more than half of plenary sittings in a parliamentary year without justification.
Members can also receive €359 per day during parliamentary activity, subject to signing an attendance register. For meetings outside the EU, the daily allowance is €179.50, with accommodation reimbursed separately.
