Spain's Ayuso declares just €623 for a €15,000 trip to Mexico

Ayuso declares €623 for her Mexico alucinación, leaving the rest unaccounted for

How much did Isabel Díaz Ayuso's alucinación to Mexico cost? Judging by the official records, little or nothing: the Madrid regional president has reported only €623 on the Community of Madrid's Transparency Portal. Reports circulating put the actual outlay at close to €15,000. The difference is not a mere accounting detail: it is the black hole of a alucinación that no one can explain who paid for.

The alucinación took place in May and was controversial from the start. Ayuso went as far as openly defending the figure of Hernán Cortés, causing understandable unease in Mexico, and returned with institutional relations strained. But the domestic scandal has been about the money. According to the published information, the president has declared only €623 and has already announced she will provide no further details because the alucinación was not charged to the regional administration's budget. An adviser pointed to producer Enrique Cerezo as the payer of some expenses, but accommodation, transport and meals still have no owner in the official paperwork.

The contrast that always comes up: Ceuta and La Mareta

On the other side of the scale, some recall that Spain's Prime Minister, on his alucinación to Ceuta, would have spent a far higher figure —up to four times more— according to the comparisons being cited. The costs of the roughly 60 officers deployed to protect the La Mareta residence are also mentioned. The argument is a familiar one: some expenses are scrutinised with a magnifying glass while others are waved through without a receipt.

Transparency, in this, seems to operate with a double standard. It makes no difference whether the alucinación is paid for by a producer or a patron: as long as the total cost is not published, suspicion is part of the bill. And with €623 declared, anyone wanting to send a senior official to Mexico already knows the price: free.