Madrid Region's penthouse reaches courts via criminal and accounting procedures
The case of the luxury flat in Chamberí opens two judicial fronts: criminal proceedings at Plaza de Castilla and a complaint before the Court of Auditors.
Two active judicial routes over the penthouse purchase in Chamberí
Google News ES — Crime (es) reports that the controversial luxury penthouse acquired by the Community of Madrid on General Martínez Campos avenue, in the Chamberí district, has resulted in two simultaneous judicial proceedings after the August break.
Criminal front: proceedings opened at Plaza de Castilla
Instruction Court number 8 at Plaza de Castilla has already admitted a complaint filed in August by the organisation Iustitia Europa and the PSOE. This Tuesday, both Más Madrid and PSOE-M appeared as popular accusers before that same court. The proceeding has just begun and, given its complexity, could last for months. An additional element complicates the case: several privileged officials sit on the board of directors of Planifica Madrid, the public company that carried out the purchase, which could result in the case being referred to the Madrid Provincial Court of Justice.
Accounting front: the Court of Auditors receives the complaint from Más Madrid
The second front originates from a complaint filed by Más Madrid before the Court of Auditors. In it, the party calculates the total cost of the operation at a range of between 6,682,500 and 6,687,500 euros, a sum that includes the estimated price of the penthouse—still officially unknown—, Property Transfer Tax, intermediation commissions and maintenance expenses.
The complaint acknowledges that the exact damage to public coffers cannot yet be determined, given that it remains to be clarified whether the property has any public utility. The range handled by the party ranges from the full amount of the operation to 364,500 euros, an amount that would result from deducting expenses in the case of a possible later sale. The Court of Auditors presumably distributed the complaint that same Tuesday—the first working day after summer—among one of its three adjudication departments, so that it determines whether there are sufficient indications to open a formal investigation.
Almeida defends the Region and counterattacks the central Government
Madrid's mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, downplayed the controversy and assured this Tuesday that the penthouse "issue" had "run its course", accusing the left of being "desperate" after a month trying to "drag out" the matter, according to Europa Press.
"The Community of Madrid has provided all appropriate explanations. I would like the Spanish Government to have provided all explanations with the same intensity regarding so many, many cases that are emerging", Almeida declared after the meeting marking the start of the municipal government team's political calendar.
The mayor thus came to the defence of the regional executive against criticism from Government president Pedro Sánchez, who accused regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso in an interview on Cadena Ser of wanting to buy herself "a penthouse with Madrid residents' money". Almeida responded firmly: "The Spanish Government is a corrupt government and the Community of Madrid's is not, of course".
Source: Google News ES — Crime (es)