The president and the penthouse: how Madrid’s government spent €6.3m on a temporary ‘office’

The president of the Madrid region, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has said she had no idea about the purchase of the penthouse. Photograph: Europa Press Entertainment/Europa Press/Getty Images

The outspoken rightwing leader of the Madrid region is under growing pressure to explain why her government spent €6.3m (£5.4m) on a residential penthouse purportedly to serve as a temporary workspace while her offices were being renovated.

Isabel Díaz Ayuso, a prominent member of Spain’s opposition conservative People’s party (PP), has been the president of the Madrid region since 2019.