The Madrid regional government has put a 481-square-metre penthouse on Paseo del General Martínez Campos in the Chamberí district up for sale. The public company Planifica Madrid acquired the property in April 2026 for €6.3 million after it was presented as a temporary office for President Isabel Díaz Ayuso during renovations. The purchase, which was not initially disclosed, drew criticism over transparency and the use of public funds. The government has since described the property as support space for regional departments, not an official residence for the president.
Miguel Ángel García Martín, the regional Minister of the Presidency, is responsible for explaining the transaction. The government says the property was bought to serve the needs of the Community of Madrid and that its purchase price matched an assessed market value. García Martín has said the penthouse will be sold, with the proceeds directed to recovery in the Sierra Oeste, where summer wildfires damaged several communities.
The sale process has yet to produce a buyer. The first tender received no acceptable offer; a second sales period, open to individuals and companies, closed at 23:59 on 21 October 2026 without a bid. The minimum price was set at €6,694,201, plus applicable taxes, about €394,201 above the reported acquisition price before taxes and transaction costs. That difference is not a realized return: the sale has not been completed.
After the second attempt failed, Planifica Madrid’s technical committee chose to keep the property on the market through an open-ended public award procedure instead of starting an entirely new tender. Regional Presidency Minister García Martín said it would remain “for sale through an open award procedure”; the property can stay available until Planifica Madrid accepts an offer or withdraws it. The penthouse remains a public asset, with no confirmed purchaser and no sale proceeds yet available for wildfire recovery.
At a press conference in Robledo de Chavela, one of the towns affected by the summer fires, García Martín defended Planifica Madrid’s actions, noting that the company had previously bought and sold properties for public use. He dismissed the controversy as politically motivated, arguing that critics were searching for problems where none existed. He also criticized Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s handling of recent crises and accused opposition parties of prolonging the dispute to distract from their own challenges.
The purchase has also prompted an accountability challenge. Más Madrid has sought oversight by the Tribunal de Cuentas over the €6.3 million acquisition, focusing on its justification and management. The Community of Madrid has defended the transaction as lawful and said the price matched the property’s appraised market value. The dispute has kept attention on why the purchase was authorized and how the property was intended for public use, alongside the unsuccessful resale.
The episode comes amid heightened scrutiny of public spending and governance in Spain. Debate over the penthouse echoes wider concerns about accountability, particularly as regions face mounting costs from natural disasters. The government has pledged to direct any sale proceeds to wildfire recovery, a response to the continuing impact of the fires in the Sierra Oeste. Recent discussions about regional policy and public-sector management have also focused on proposals to shield basic sectors from political shifts, including a push for stable expert teams in Catalonia’s education system, detailed in this recent report.
With the property still on the market, attention will remain on whether a sale is completed and how the proceeds are allocated. The case shows the challenge regional governments face in meeting urgent needs while maintaining transparency and managing public assets responsibly.
