The Madrid City Council suspends the granting of new licenses for housing for tourist use (VUT) in the city. This was announced by the mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, this Thursday at the press conference after the Government Meeting, in which he confirmed that the suspension “will have immediate effects.” “From this moment on, no licenses will be granted by the City Council while the process of preparing, processing and approving the general plan to address this phenomenon lasts,” said the councilor. Although the City Council was expected to make public the draft of the new rule this month, as the mayor had said repeatedly, the schedule has changed and will be longer than expected.
The Special Plan for Tourist Apartments that is currently in force in Madrid, formulated by former mayor Manuela Carmena, will be replaced by the modification of the General Urban Planning Plan. The City Council plans to approve it initially in September at the Government Board, then this document will be submitted to public information and, afterward, any allegations that citizens may present will be resolved.
The Delegate of Urban Planning, Borja Carabante, foresees that the modification will be brought to the plenary session in the first quarter of 2025. “But since it is a modification of the General Plan, it requires definitive approval from the Community of Madrid, which has a period of four months,” explained Carabante. In the end, the new standard would arrive in the first half of 2025.
Almeida has also announced a “toughening of sanctions” for VUTs that do not comply with the regulations. Currently, he recalled, there are sanctions for 1,000, 2,000 and 3,000 euros, which will become 30,000, 60,000 and 100,000 euros. “We intend that they have a deterrent effect and that the amount of the sanctions in no case compensates for the profits that may be derived from illegal activity in the area of VUT,” stated the mayor.
The third measure announced has been an increase in the number of inspectors by 15% and the fourth, the publication of the VUT addresses that do comply with the normal so that people who want to use one of these apartments know if they are legal or No.
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Officially, it is not known how many tourist apartments there are in the capital, but the INE points to a figure close to 14,000, while the Inside Airbnb platform projects more than 24,000. The Urban Planning delegate, Borja Carabante, said this Thursday that there are 13,502 VUT in Madrid and that only 941 have an urban planning license. That is, only 7% are legal, at least according to data from the Madrid City Council. “Those are the only ones that can provide service,” said Carabante. Currently, this type of accommodation is governed by the Special Plan formulated by former mayor Manuela Carmena.
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