Feijóo knew about the Madrid penthouse since April and points to Ayuso and Patrimonio

Feijóo admits he knew about the penthouse and turns on Ayuso and Patrimonio

Two months after the penthouse scandal involving Madrid's regional government erupted, the regional president's version of events is wobbling. Alberto Núñez Feijóo has come out and said something uncomfortable: Ayuso's government told him in April that it was looking for a new headquarters because of the construction works at Sol. The obvious question is: if the head of the Madrid government knew everything, why did she spend weeks claiming she had no knowledge of the purchase?

The statement, made in the middle of the controversy, clears no one. Feijóo argues that it is Patrimonio of the Comunidad de Madrid, the public company that manages the region's property portfolio, which should explain why it bought premises that cannot be used as office space. In this way, the leader of the PP (Spain's main conservative party) places the ball on the roof of the very structure that answers to Ayuso. And along the way, he opens a huge rift in the party.

The April that dismantles the story

The first key point is chronological. The purchase was made "in secret," according to the most critical account, and Ayuso insisted she knew nothing. But Feijóo now says the Madrid government informed him in April of the need to find a new headquarters because of the works at Sol. He does not say he was shown deeds or asked his opinion about the penthouse. But being aware of the property move, even in general terms, clashes with the ignorance that was sold to the public.

The difference between a penthouse and commercial premises is no small matter. The zoning classification keeps coming up in the debate: a penthouse is a dwelling on the top floor; commercial premises are a retail or office space. The purchase was apparently made as commercial premises, and that is precisely the criticism: a public company bought a property that cannot be used as an office. Feijóo drives the point home that Patrimonio must provide the explanation. The silence so far is not helping.

Friendly fire with a whiff of Casado

The internal party dimension is hard to ignore. You do not need to be a master strategist to see that this smells like an internal settling of scores. The precedent of Pablo Casado, who tried to use the Madrid president and ended up out of a job, hangs over every word. Some argue that Feijóo is attacking before he gets attacked, and that he wants to take out his natural successor. Others see it as an invitation for Ayuso to explain something she cannot explain. The economist Jesús Fernández Villaverde already warned that the PP is heading for a split, and the name of Rodrigo Rato comes up in the conversation as a reminder that friendly fire is nothing new.

The PP's territorial fracture also has an economic expression: the Madrid PP, more urban and with a different sociological profile, versus the party in the rest of Spain's regions. That tension has already been described as a latent split. The penthouse row simply lights the fuse.

The missing figures

One concrete figure is circulating in the public conversation: 60,000 euros. The amount appears in connection with this controversy, though it has not yet been established whether it relates to the property deal, a fine or some other item. The lack of official documentation has not stopped the rumour mill.

What is on the table is that this matter has been going on for two months. Two months, and no one has closed the file with a firm explanation. The Madrid president's "persecution" narrative has its defenders, who point out that other regions have official residences of considerable size and that the purchase was made by a public company, not a private individual. Legal, they say. In any case, politically lethal.

The political cost, still undefined

As of this discussion, the scandal remains open. There are no charges, no verdict, no administrative ruling closing the case. What there is, is the account of a regional president who said she knew nothing, a national leader who says that president's government informed him in April, and a public company with premises it bought that cannot be used as an office.

The question hanging in the air is not whether Feijóo and Ayuso can stand each other — it is clear they cannot. The question is whether the Madrid PP can afford a civil war right now. And whether the electorate will punish whoever appears to have lied, or whoever decided to air it all.