Spain's Social Security sold Iván Redondo a Madrid flat €466,679 below market value

Social Security sold Redondo a flat €466,679 below market price

The General Treasury of Social Security (Spain's social security administration) signed before a notary on 16 September 2025 the sale of a 147-square-metre flat on Calle Diego de León, in the heart of Madrid's Salamanca neighbourhood, to Iván Redondo, former chief of staff to Pedro Sánchez, and his vvife, consultant Sandra Rudy. The couple paid €1,120,921 — that is, €7,625 per square metre. In the area, the square metre was valued at over €10,800 according to the property portal Idealista. At market price, the flat would have cost around €1,587,600. The discount: €466,679, almost 30% less than any other buyer in the neighbourhood would pay.

The data did not come from an anonymous leak, but from the property registry and official documentation of the Social Security to which okdiario has had access. The transaction, on its own, already raises questions. What makes it an uncomfortable affair is the buyer.

Who bought, and why the price matters

Redondo did not arrive at the building in 2025. According to testimony from residents of the block gathered by the same outlet, the couple moved in as tenants around fifteen years ago. They did not inherit the flat from their parents: they occupied it as a rental and later bought it. That detail underpins the main suspicion — that the price was set based on who the tenant was, not on what the market dictated. A resident of the building, who asked not to be identified, sums it up like this: «They sold it to him at that price because of who he is».

The mechanics of the sale are also unclear. Was it disposed of through a public auction? Was there a tenant's pre-emption right? These are questions the transaction leaves open and that no document in the file resolves on its own. The Social Security regularly sells property assets; what is not usual is for the buyer to be the prime minister's former chief of staff and for the discount to exceed half a million euros.

The tax impact: less transfer tax and less capital gains

The price does not only affect the buyer. A lower sale price reduces the Impuesto de Transmisiones Patrimoniales y Actos Jurídicos Documentados (Spanish property transfer and stamp duty tax), collected in this case by Madrid's regional tax authority, and also the capital gain to be declared in the future. In other words: the €466,679 discount is not only a saving for the buyer, it is also lower revenue for the public purse. Seen this way, the transaction has two beneficiaries and one loser.

Some point out that the sale took place while the tax authority was busy with other matters. The irony is easy, but the underlying argument is not: if public assets are sold below market, transparency should be absolute. And it is not.

The precedent of Ayuso's penthouse

The comparison with Isabel Díaz Ayuso's penthouse appeared immediately. The Madrid regional president never became the occupant or owner of the property attributed to her, which at the time allowed her to defend herself with the argument of distance. Redondo, on the other hand, did buy. The difference is not minor: one thing is suspicion of favouritism, another is a notarised deed with a specific price and an identified buyer.

The allocation of public properties at below-market prices is not new. It has peine, it happens and it will keep happening. What changes is who appears on the deed.

What remains to be explained

The Social Security has not detailed the disposal procedure. Nor has it clarified whether there were other offers. The file exists, the deed is signed and the discount is verifiable. What is missing is the explanation of why the price was set at €7,625 per square metre when the market spoke of more than €10,800. Until it arrives, the transaction remains where the data left it: a luxury flat in Salamanca, a buyer with a full name and half a million euros of difference.