Madrid’s regional government announced it will sell a disputed apartment and several other publicly owned properties to help fund reconstruction after wildfires burned tens of thousands of hectares across the region, defusing a political controversy that had given opposition parties a fresh line of attack against regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
Presidency minister Miguel Ángel García Martín confirmed the decision, saying he had instructed the public company Planifica Madrid to put four properties on Gran Vía and one on Paseo del General Martínez Campos up for sale. The five properties are valued at around 20 million euros, and the proceeds will be directed toward rebuilding the Sierra Oeste area.
The apartment at the centre of the controversy, a penthouse in the Chamberí neighbourhood, had been purchased by the Madrid regional government while Ayuso was managing the wildfire emergency. Opposition parties, including the Socialists and Más Madrid, seized on the purchase to attack the president.
Ayuso denied the property was intended for her personal use, saying it was meant to host temporary official meetings of the regional executive. She added that she would not take an official residence as many ministers and leaders of other autonomous communities have, and suggested the timing of the attacks was deliberate, given her government’s focus on wildfire recovery. She said the allegations were false and expressed frustration at having to defend herself from what she called smear campaigns while people had lost their homes and property.
Wildfire relief measures
The fires burned 29,000 hectares across 17 Madrid municipalities. Ayuso’s government had already announced a 30 million euro housing plan for fire victims, covering direct aid for repair and reconstruction of damaged homes. An extraordinary cabinet meeting validated a plan of 58 urgent actions. The regional government also announced 15.2 million euros in direct aid for small businesses and self-employed workers in the commerce, services and industry sectors.
Among the immediate measures, the government said it would make properties from the Social Housing Agency available to people unable to return home, through an emergency social allocation procedure. It also announced rental subsidies covering up to 100 percent of rent for up to 12 months for households left temporarily uninhabitable by the fires.
Opposition divisions
The coordinated opposition attack on Ayuso came during a difficult week for both PSOE and Más Madrid. Militants from Alcorcón brought legal proceedings over Más Madrid’s recent internal primaries, alleging that 19,000 members had lost their right to vote compared to 2023. Más Madrid cited data protection grounds to withhold its membership roll from a judge, forcing the postponement of testimony from the party’s local coordinator.
Vox also joined the opposition front against Ayuso while managing its own crisis after barely retaining its municipal group in the Madrid city council. Three councillors, Javier Ortega Smith, Ignacio Ansaldo and Carla Toscano, are set to become non-attached members, with the change expected to be formalised in September.
