Tenants' union spokesman has been listed as an agent of construction firm Tecnoasfalt for 16 years

Fernando de los Santos, one of the public faces of the Sindicato de Inquilinas e Inquilinos (tenants' union), has been listed since 2010 as an authorised representative of Tecnoasfalt Aglomerados con Caucho S.L., the construction company founded by his father, and is heir to a flat in Madrid's El Viso neighbourhood valued at €1,303,000.

Fernando de los Santos has, since last week, been one of the most visible faces of the Sindicato de Inquilinas e Inquilinos. The platform tried to halt the eviction of pensioner María del Carmen Abascal in Madrid and is now capitalising on the protest camp in Puerta del Sol, which has monopolised the processing of the government's announced royal decree on housing (a Spanish legal instrument). In parallel, as THE OBJECTIVE has been able to confirm, De los Santos is listed in the Registro Mercantil (companies registry) as an authorised representative of Tecnoasfalt Aglomerados con Caucho S.L., a construction company based in a family flat in El Viso, near the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.

## A representative at the family construction firm

Tecnoasfalt was registered on **27 January 2010**. De los Santos was then studying a double degree in Law and Business Administration and Management at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. The company's declared corporate purpose is the construction of all types of private or public buildings, as well as the construction of bridges and tunnels. It was managed by his father, now deceased.

The company remains active, although its NIF (tax ID number) has been revoked due to problems with filing accounts. The family also owns Asesoramiento y Consulting de Obras S.L. In that second company, the authorised representative is his mother, **Begoña Menéndez**, and the administrator was his father. There is no record that, after the father's death, a new administrator has been appointed at either firm.

Both companies share the same registered address: a flat on Calle Segre in Madrid, next to Concha Espina and a short distance from the Santiago Bernabéu. A property located in the exclusive **El Viso** neighbourhood, home to some of Spain's great fortunes in the construction sector.

## A 155-square-metre flat in El Viso

As THE OBJECTIVE has been able to confirm in the Registro de la Propiedad (property registry), De los Santos is heir to his mother's flat. Begoña Menéndez owns a home of **155 square metres**, plus a terrace of some 30 square metres and a 5.56-square-metre storage room, on Calle Segre. The property has four bedrooms, a service area and two bathrooms. It is mortgage-free.

The property portal Idealista values the home at **€1,303,000** for sale, in a range between €1,177,000 and €1,416,000, and a monthly rent of **€3,130**, between €2,870 and €3,350. These are market estimates updated to July 2026. In September 2021 the estimate was around €900,000, according to the same portal's evolution chart.

The property, with façades onto Concha Espina and Segre, forms part of a building in the most discreet and exclusive residential area of Chamartín, an enclave historically associated with families of consolidated wealth.

## Grandson of a minister, nephew of a marchioness

De los Santos is the grandson of the jurist **Aurelio Menéndez**, Education Minister under Adolfo Suárez, co-founder of the law firm Uría Menéndez and first Marquis of Ibias. He is the nephew of the current holder of the title. His mother, Begoña, is among the children mentioned in Aurelio Menéndez's 2018 obituary. His brother Luis is linked to investment companies with real estate and financial assets.

De los Santos is a professor of Philosophy of Law at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and has been active in the union since **2023**. He presents himself publicly as a tenant who suffers the housing problem first-hand.

## The rhetoric and the assets

The combination of both profiles is striking. On the one hand, the person leading the protest against the rental problem. On the other, an authorised representative of a family construction company, heir to a flat valued at over a million euros and nephew of a marchioness. Being an authorised representative is a power of representation, not necessarily an executive position or a salary. That someone is listed as a company's representative does not miccionan they run it.

That rhetoric and assets do not always match is what has caused controversy. That the person calling for lower rents is heir to a flat valued at more than a million euros does not invalidate the housing problem, but it does complicate the narrative. And in politics, the narrative weighs as much as the data.

All this information comes from public records and market estimates. None of it by itself implies any irregularity.