The €6.3M penthouse bought by a public company without a tender

Ayuso's penthouse: 6.3 million without tender or board approval

A commercial company dependent on the Community of Madrid paid 6.3 million euros plus 378,000 in taxes for a 309-square-meter penthouse with a terrace in Chamberí. The price isn't the strange part. What's strange is how it was finalized: with a power of attorney authorizing purchases without any limitation, without a public tender, without a justification report, and without going through the company's own Board of Directors. The journalistic account that uncovered the case claims the property was not intended for the company, but for the Madrid regional president.

Is it normal for a public company to buy a penthouse without a tender?

No, and that's where the trouble begins. Planifica Madrid is the heir to Arpegio and, before that, Obras de Madrid: a company completely dependent on the Community. The purchase was made without a tender. The seller was, according to that information, Astrid Gil-Casares, an economist and ex-vvife of Rafael del Pino, president of Ferrovial, who had been wanting to sell the apartment for some time. The penthouse was appraised at €6,242,884 and its cadastral value is €2,548,859. There was, according to the same account, an offer of 7 million on the table. It was closed at 6.3. The €700,000 difference matches what the real estate partner's company owed to Madrid Network.

Residential on paper, office in practice

The property is declared for residential use, but the deal intended to classify it as an office. Madrid's 1997 regulations prohibit offices above the first floor, so the plan required a favorable signature: that of the technical director of the lessor itself. Against this argument, some maintain that in Spain any dwelling can be used for an office or teleworking for up to 30% of its surface area. The rest of the debate is not legal, it's about timing. The Community rents it to itself for €3,000 per month, with 15 months free and the first euro recorded in accounting in November 2027, after the May elections. The total contract amounts to €315,000, below the €500,000 threshold that would require approval from the Governing Council.

Who ordered the purchase and who signed

Two names underpin the structure. Pedro Corbalán, CEO of Planifica Madrid, with a salary of €113,995, and Miguel Ángel García, Minister of the Presidency and government spokesperson, with €124,851. The former comes from Arpegio's urban development consortia and has a resume that includes a stint in Guadarrama, where his time leading the municipal housing company ended in a head-on clash with the mayor. The latter is the man who, according to those who know him, never knows how to say no to a boss. The order, according to the account, was verbal.

From the July scandal to the urgent sale

The case broke in July. From then on, haste: the penthouse was bundled with offices on Gran Vía and put up for sale with a noble purpose, for the victims of the fires. Within the party's national leadership, according to circulating versions, the noise is not welcome. And the uncomfortable question arises: someone from the inside must have tipped them off, because only four people knew about the operation.

The underlying discussion: improper or illegal?

Here the narrative splits. One group emphasizes the benefit: if the Community buys and then resells, the assets gain value, and there would be nothing to claim. Another responds that the problem isn't the balance sheet, but the procedure: no tender, no board approval, and no proper paperwork. Hovering over it all is the usual suspicion: that the same mechanism works the same way under any party, and it's only noticed when someone leaks it. The most repeated comparison isn't with an adversary, it's with the mirror.

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No one has yet explained which budget the money came from or who authorized a power of attorney for unlimited purchases. And that, more than the price, is the question that remains unanswered.