The list of VUTs with municipal license and their actual location will be published on the municipal website.
The Madrid City Council has decided to suspend the granting of licenses for housing for tourist use (VUT) in the city of Madrid while it works on the approval of the Modification of the General Plan, in the first quarter of 2025, and will reinforce its staff of inspectors this summer.
This was announced by the mayor of the capital, José Luis MartÃnez-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”.
It 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 will be carried out by the 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, he has reported that the number of inspectors in the Urban Planning area will be increased by 15% to be able to “pursue homes for tourist use that do not comply with the legal requirements in the city.”
The Government considers that the Special Accommodation Plan (PEH), approved on March 27, 2019, has been “ineffective” in preventing the proliferation of VUTs in the capital and correcting the consequences of their rapid expansion outside the law. Therefore, he wants to achieve “an action plan to balance the lodging market in the city that contemplates various actions.”
These also involve the publication of an official list of licensed VUTs and their real location. Furthermore, as the Madrid councilor has announced, the Urban Planning, Environment and Mobility Area will begin meetings with the sector and those affected in the coming days to work on drafting the Modification of the General Plan.
With this action plan, which is launched today, and the battery of measures it contemplates, which will be expanded with the Modification of the General Plan, the municipal Government intends to increase the supply of residential housing in the downtown area, attracting new neighbors ; organize the tourist offer by offering quality tourism to visitors; improve the lives of Madrid residents who may be affected by the inconvenience caused by some VUTs; and provide greater security to tourists who choose to enjoy the city in this type of accommodation.
APPROVAL AT THE SEPTEMBER MEETING
The initial approval of the Modification of the General Plan will be taken to the Government Board next September to submit it to public information and it is expected to be raised to the Plenary Session in the first quarter of next year.
For residential use, licenses for dispersed VUT and licenses for the transformation of premises into housing in the commercial axes of the Center district are suspended. VUT licenses are also suspended in buildings other than the residential area that are located on the ground floor.
From now on, when the Madrid City Council verifies that a home is dedicated to tourist use without having a license for this purpose, it will act under article 204 of Law 9/2001, of July 17, on the Land of the Community of Madrid (LSCM). Regional legislation classifies the implementation of a use incompatible with urban planning as a serious infraction.
Another line within this action plan will consist of strengthening the inspectorate body. The General Subdirectorate of Inspection and Discipline has 65 workers for all inspection activity. This summer, the City Council will increase the workforce by 15%, incorporating ten more people into the service.
To offer greater security and guarantee to visitors who choose to stay in the city in VUT, the Madrid City Council is going to publish on its portal, expected in the month of May, an official list of homes with these characteristics that have a license. municipal (941 today) and its location.
14,699 tourist establishments operate in the city: 92% are VUT (13,502), but only 941 operate with a municipal license (151 are in process).
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.
The VUT have increased in the city by 41% since 2017. While in this time 5,564 new tourist homes have been recorded, in the same period 50 tourist establishments have been created (hotels, pensions, hostels, etc.), which has translated into that 65% of the new tourist places created in this period correspond to the VUT.
The Inspection and Disciplinary Service received 51% more complaints in 2023 than in 2022 that affected homes and apartments for tourist use: 686 compared to 454. 82% came from citizens (563). Of the total inspections carried out (4,093), it was verified that 478 homes were VUT and 243 were restored to residential use.
