Madrid’s PP Downplays the Failure of Ayuso’s Attempt to Boycott the Regional Summit

Isabel Díaz Ayuso is increasingly alone inside Spain’s People’s Party, and every gesture involving her is now being examined for signs of support or distance. The Madrid president is already under pressure over the unusual purchase of a €6.3 million luxury apartment with public money, and party officials are closely watching Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the PP leader.

A small incident during Wednesday’s march in support of Ceuta fueled that attention. Feijóo left without saying goodbye to Ayuso after asking about an old friend, according to witnesses, and then appearing to look for him in the crowd. He was not seen again. The episode may have been circumstantial, the article notes, but it reflects how intensely the party is interpreting events around Ayuso at the start of the new political season.

Her clearest setback came with the meeting of the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council, which brings together Spain’s regional governments and the Finance Ministry. The Madrid government urged PP-led regions not to attend, hoping to show opposition to the proposed regional financing model. At PP meetings, Madrid argued that a united absence by all the regions it governs could halt the reform because approval required at least half of the territories.

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Madrid has maintained the same position as always.

“Madrid has maintained the same position as always,” said an adviser close to Ayuso. “We explained it from the first day. Each region defends itself against this robbery as it sees fit.” Andalusia’s PP government said it respected Ayuso’s position but relied on each regional president’s freedom to decide. Other PP regional leaders have privately criticized her strategy at multilateral forums, including a presidents’ conference in Barcelona where a dispute over simultaneous translation earpieces overshadowed the regions’ positions.

Within the Madrid PP, few deny that Ayuso is facing her deepest crisis since taking power in 2019. Neither she nor her advisers have clearly explained why the public administration wanted to buy a high-end home through a real-estate agency used by wealthy property sellers, especially when the apartment could serve neither as an office nor as a presidential residence. Despite the pressure, Feijóo has not abandoned her. He is due to headline Saturday’s opening of the political season alongside Ayuso.

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We explained it from the first day. Each region defends itself against this robbery as it sees fit.