‘We’re all Ayuso’: lockdown sceptic poised for victory in Madrid election

Isabel Diaz Ayuso's mix of bluntness, defiance and appeals to far-right voters appears set to pay off

The late lunchers who linger over coffee and wine on the terraces of Calle Ponzano, Madrid, sit beneath banners bemoaning the neighbourhood's noise levels and among posters bearing the capital's most ubiquitous face.

From the windows of many of the bars and restaurants that line the bustling street - and from the walls of metro stations across they city - stare the eyes of Isabel Diaz Ayuso, regional president of Madrid, scourge of Pedro Sanchez's Socialist-led coalition government, and unofficial patron saint of a hefty proportion of the region's hospitality industry. Her campaign posters and letters feature little more than her image and the single word libertad. Freedom.