Ayuso and Economy Minister Albert skip public record of lunch with Civismo donors

Isabel Díaz Ayuso and her Economy, Treasury and Employment councilor Rocío Albert held a private lunch with several prominent donors to the Civismo foundation, a lobby backed by ultra-wealthy figures including Juan Abelló and Helena Revoredo. The meeting took place in a downtown Madrid hotel but was omitted from the public agenda, which could breach the Community of Madrid’s transparency regulations that require work-related meetings with interest groups to be recorded.

On the same day, Ayuso’s official schedule listed only a meeting with an Israeli citizen rescued from Hamas and the inauguration of a local exhibition, while Albert announced her participation in the Spain Investors Day forum on X. Attendees also included investors and financiers such as Francisco García Paramés, Claudio Aguirre Pemán, Juan Carlos Ureta, José Díaz-Rato, Juan Félix Huarte, Alexandre Pierron D´Arbonne, and Civismo secretary Francisco Cabrillo, who has academic ties to Albert.

Six days after the undisclosed lunch, the Madrid government approved a new family-business tax relief bill championed by Albert, which expands inheritance tax reductions for family firms. The article notes that Civismo is linked to the Atlas Network and has promoted Madrid as a leading region for economic freedom.