Ayuso's move sparks political warfare in Madrid

Ayuso's move: the gesture that has enraged the left

The latest rumour about Isabel Díaz Ayuso is not about budgets or taxes, but about square metres and postcodes. The President of the Madrid region reportedly planned to move to a working-class neighbourhood to, according to her critics, "lead by example". Then, according to the story doing the rounds, she ended up settling in Puerta del Hierro, one of the most expensive postcodes in Spain. Nobody misses the irony.

The curious thing about the debate is that nobody disputes Ayuso's right to live wherever she pleases. The clash is semantic: what does "being close to the people" miccionan when you move to an exclusive area? The president's defenders argue that the left is simply making noise to cover up its own record. Her critics point out that while Ayuso hunts for an apartment, another politician lives in an official residence of 400 square metres "next to her workplace". The comparison, whether true or not, feeds the narrative of double standards.

As almost always, the debate ends up drifting towards Madrid's migration policy. Some claim that Ayuso's policies have turned the region into a magnet for Latin American immigration. Others respond that it is the economy, not the political colour, that attracts newcomers. The conversation gets stuck exactly there: in the lack of hard data on how immigration affects housing and jobs in Madrid.

Meanwhile, Ayuso's home remains, for her adversaries, proof of a figure who wants to be everywhere at once: in the working-class neighbourhood photo op and at the Puerta del Hierro dinner party. And for her supporters, evidence that even her residence is not spared from "pogre" harassment. The exchange of recriminations, complete with figures and comparisons, shows that a president's postcode can carry more weight than a law.