World
Ayuso’s record in Madrid reopens the dispute between management, political confrontation and an ideological agenda
A review published by elDiario.es focuses on Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s seven years at the head of the Community of Madrid. The analysis crosses public works, health care, housing, transport and legislation with criticism from the opposition and the PP’s defense.
After seven years in government in the Community of Madrid, the figure of Isabel Díaz Ayuso continues to be read along two lines: the management of public resources and a strategy of constant confrontation with the government of Pedro Sánchez. That is how an analysis by elDiario.es frames it, bringing together the views of political scientist Carmen Lumbierres, opposition groups and the Madrid PP.
According to that review, one of the emblems of Ayuso’s tenure is the Zendal Hospital, inaugurated in 2021 during the pandemic. The president described it as the “best pandemic hospital in the world,” but elDiario.es noted that its 2024 report shows 266 admissions and 331 discharges in the functional rehabilitation unit, as well as 120 transfers to other centers in the specialized day center for ALS. The outlet added that the center is seeking to establish itself as a neuro-rehabilitation space and that it did not receive the Spaniards who traveled on the hantavirus cruise ship because it was not prepared for it.
On health care, elDiario.es also highlighted that the Community of Madrid doubled payments to Quirón since Ayuso has governed alone. In 2020, those four hospitals received 504 million euros for services, previous debts and other payments, while in 2024 the figure rose to 1,611 million. Más Madrid argued that this scheme erodes public health care and linked that balance to longer waiting lists, delays in accessing family doctors and changes in out-of-hospital emergency services.
From the governing side, however, the Madrid PP defended the view that Ayuso’s management transformed the region and emphasized tax cuts. The analysis also cites a 2024 Fedea report, according to which Madrid was then the region where the highest incomes devoted the smallest share of their income to taxes.
The elDiario.es text places another focus on the pandemic, when Madrid kept hospitality venues open while other parts of Spain imposed perimeter lockdowns. For Lumbierres, Ayuso’s political construction also rests on an increasingly marked Madrid identity and on an idea of the capital linked to entertainment, major events and projects such as Formula 1.
In housing, the outlet recalled that in 2025 Ayuso announced a new plan without applying the state law. Among the measures, it mentioned a loosening of controls over land uses and over the process of building protected housing under the Plan Vive. Both Más Madrid and the PSOE questioned that policy and pointed to rising housing costs and problems reported by award recipients.
In transport, elDiario.es reviewed the automation of Metro line 6 and the expansion of line 11, whose route ran into problems because of its impact on Ministry of Defense facilities. During the recent Debate on the State of the Region, Ayuso also announced the extension of line 10 from Alcorcón to Móstoles and the intention for the new driverless Circular line to operate 24 hours a day on weekends.
The legislative chapter is another area of dispute. The PP said it had approved 29 initiatives and had fulfilled 96% of its election program. The opposition, by contrast, argued that legislative activity was aimed at an ideological agenda and at strengthening the Executive’s control over Madrid institutions. Among the cases cited are the reform of the trans and LGTBI laws and the so-called “Unborn Child Law.”
For Lumbierres, as reported by elDiario.es, Ayuso prioritizes political conflict and builds her leadership more from public dispute than from a classic managerial profile. That reading sums up much of the assessment of her time in power in Madrid: a presidency associated with symbols such as the Zendal, with a strong political battle with the central government and with an economic and ideological model that divides opinion.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
