The Madrid City Council has decided to suspend the granting of new licenses for housing for tourist use in the city, while it works on the approval of the Modification of the General Plan, which is expected to be ready for the first quarter of 2025.
This was announced by the mayor of the capital, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, at the press conference after the Government Meeting, in the Moratalaz district, where he announced that it is a decision with “immediate effects” and that begins to take effect “from this moment”.
There are 14,699 tourist establishments operating in the city of Madrid: 92% are (VTU) homes for tourist use (13,502), but only 941 operate with a municipal license (151 are in process). That is, at this time, a total of 12,561 homes operate without a license.
Regarding the beds offered in all tourist accommodations, the figure reaches 158,756 places, of which 30% are located in VUT (47,589). The rest, in 320 hotels, 473 pensions and hostels, 130 tourist apartments, 14 hotel-apartments and 260 establishments, which include guest houses, hostels and hostels.
As Almeida highlighted, the freezing of the granting of new licenses will be “for the duration of the process of preparation, processing and approval of the modification of the General Plan to address this phenomenon in the city of Madrid” and that it will be carried out by Urban Planning area, directed by Borja Carabante.
The objective is “to confront this phenomenon that has multiple perspectives in the city,” but what it intends is to reconcile the best rest and tranquility of the residents of the city of Madrid, “without obviously ignoring” the tourism sector.
In addition, it has been reported that the penalties will be toughened and can reach 190,000 euros for those owners who operate without a municipal license. In addition, the number of inspectors in the Urban Planning area will be reinforced by 15% this summer, up to 75, to be able to “pursue homes for tourist use that do not comply with the legal requirements in the city.”
In addition, an official list of homes that operate with a license will be published and their real location will be announced.
