Two huge buildings with 10,000 square meters of offices next to the central Plaza de Callao are currently closed, unused and without the possibility of housing a public facility, despite the fact that they are property of the Madrid City Council. They became part of the municipal heritage on July 30, when the longest concession for a parking lot in the capital, which dated back to 1972 and to which the aforementioned buildings were associated, expired. However, four private businesses have survived this period and refuse to leave their premises, despite the fact that they no longer have any legal contract that allows their presence there.
The Luna-Tudescos car park and the two buildings were operated for 52 years by Sociedad Anónima de Aparcamientos Madrid (SAMA), belonging to the Lleó Casanova family. With it, the four businesses in rebellion signed their contracts, two Asian stores (a bazaar and a place specialized in calligraphy) and two restaurants, located on both sides of a Madrid Municipal Police station. On July 31, these businesses continued to operate as if the concession had gone ahead. And they prepared their lawyers.
Four months after that date, the works of Ortiz, the new parking concessionaire, are progressing and the businesses are still open, although they have not signed any lease signed with the council, something that has been confirmed by the council: “It does not exist in the “current legal title enabling the occupation and exploitation of the same by person or persons other than the Madrid City Council,” acknowledges the Almeida Government in a response to a request for information from the Más Madrid party, to which this newspaper has had access.
The places that refuse to leave are two bar-restaurants: El Lugar de Martina and El Buda Feliz 1974, which boasts of being the oldest Chinese restaurant in the city. A bazaar run by Asians and a special paper store are also in the same situation. Other businesses, such as those located in the office area or the gym that had been open for years, left the place when they learned that the end of the concession was approaching.
Who are these businessmen paying rent to? Why did you decide to continue despite the end of the concession? “We don’t want to leave, but we prefer not to talk,” El Buda apologizes when faced with the questions of this newspaper, and invites us to ask in El lugar de Martina. There they do not speak out either: “I have to consult this issue with the lawyer,” explains the person in charge of the business. “I’ll call you if we decide to talk,” they say while serving two clients this Thursday morning.
Sources from the Urban Planning and Mobility area consulted by this newspaper confirm that the concession ended without the buildings being “free of burdens”, as required by the signed exploitation contract. They also assure that, although the concession ended at the end of July, they are still studying possible legal actions so that the two properties revert to the council without any type of charge. They have not indicated actions against the businessmen squatters of the premises, however, nor a hypothetical termination of their license, once the validity of their contracts has expired.
The company against which the lawsuit would be filed is SAMA, which this year approved a change of its headquarters from Plaza Luna itself to a building in the Argüelles neighborhood. Antonio Lleó Casanova has remained in charge as the sole person in charge, according to his latest business movements consulted by this medium through InsightView. With the end of exploitation, a business that has been very profitable for this company comes to an end, which during the years 2021 and 2022 distributed dividends worth 600,000 euros in each year, as reflected in its latest financial report presented.
A public provision awaiting eviction
The Madrid City Council does not clarify whether the premises that remain open in already municipal buildings have paid any amount to the council for occupying this public space. What was known is the ridiculous amount that SAMA paid in recent years to exploit the 10,000 square meters of the two buildings: 383 euros per month, as Somos Malasaña revealed in 2022.
On the ground floor of one of the buildings there is also the Centro Norte police station of the Municipal Police, for which the Madrid City Council did not pay any amount to the previous concessionaire. It is common to see their agents drinking coffee in the restaurant next door, currently in an irregular situation according to the council itself and blocking future public use of these facilities.
While the Almeida Government continues without revealing its intentions regarding the future, the political parties with representation in the Center district unanimously approved last June a proposal presented by Más Madrid in which they urged “the competent bodies of the City Council of Madrid to guarantee that the municipally owned buildings in the Plaza de Santa María Soledad Torres Acosta will have 100% residential use for the residents of the Central District.” The proposal was approved by the district councilor himself, Carlos Segura, who has always been willing to try to ensure that these facilities benefit the inhabitants of the heart of Madrid, which is very lacking in some public facilities.
The political group that made the proposal, Más Madrid, demands that Almeida give “explanations of the situation, to say the least, strange, of the buildings and commercial premises owned by the municipality,” says councilor Esther Gómez in statements to this newspaper. “The municipal government segregated the parking concession last month and the buildings should have reverted to the City Council that same day, but the stores and restaurants are still open and operating,” he adds.
“At a minimum, what this situation generates is great legal uncertainty,” explains the Más Madrid councilor about the lack of documentation for these businesses to carry out their activity. “It is total incompetence on the part of this City Council that, knowing for years the situation as well as the different needs of the neighborhood, it has not given any explanation, nor has it managed anything to recover these buildings once and for all. Properties that, on top of that, have caused enormous damage to the municipal coffers,” he adds.
Esther Gómez demands from the City Council a plan “so that these buildings house equipment for the neighborhood, which is very necessary and is in demand by the neighborhood, such as a Health Center, citizen service offices and a business incubator for the social and solidarity economy. ”. At the same time, he remembers the support of the parties for this destination, which has not yet been finalized nor is it included in the budgets for next year. “Four months have passed and the Municipal Board has not moved or done anything at all,” he laments.
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