The PSOE in Madrid proposes in its amendments to the regional Tourism Law to limit tourist apartments in pressured areas and demands authorisation from homeowners' associations. Óscar López advocates raising the VAT on these accommodations from 0% to 10% to return them to the residential market.
The socialist groups in the Assembly of Madrid and the City Council of Madrid have presented a series of amendments to the modification of the Law on the Regulation of Tourism in the Community of Madrid with the aim of protecting the residential use of homes against their conversion into tourist accommodations. The proposal, as sendanorte.es has learned, acknowledges the capacity of municipalities to limit the establishment of tourist apartments when there is a high concentration or when their proliferation affects access to housing, community living, or public services.
Among the measures, the socialists propose declaring saturated tourist areas or pressured zones, where the opening of new accommodations can be restricted and even temporarily suspending the registration of new tourist use homes. The goal is to preserve the residential stock in neighborhoods where tourist pressure expels regular housing.
The amendments also require that tourist homes have the corresponding enabling urban title and express authorisation from the homeowners' association. Additionally, coordination between the regional registry, municipalities, and state systems to combat irregular offers is reinforced.
The Secretary General of PSOE-M, Óscar López, has defended the fiscal measure affecting these accommodations: "Tourist apartments are a business in Madrid and that is why on Friday a decree will be voted on in Congress establishing that the VAT on these properties goes from the current 0% to 10%, as in any hotel establishment. We need to establish measures to try to return these apartments to the housing stock because they are now a business."
López has appealed to the responsibility of all parliamentary groups: "We hope that, for once, they will vote in favour of measures that benefit Madrid and its residents."
The spokesperson for the Socialist Municipal Group in the City Council of Madrid, Reyes Maroto, focused her intervention on the need for tourist growth not to alter the residential function of neighborhoods: "Madrid is an open city, attractive and with enormous tourist capacity. But that success must be compatible with something basic like the right to live and to preserve the identity of neighborhoods."
Maroto has warned about the high number of illegal tourist apartments and has called for greater control: "The control of illegal tourist accommodations is not just a matter of tourism regulation, but also of housing and coexistence. The City Council must inspect, sanction, and enforce the regulations."
The sessions, which concluded this Friday, also addressed the impact of major events in the city. Maroto cited the Formula 1 as an example: "For a few days we have an international showcase, but for months there are residents who live with construction, mobility restrictions, noise, and disruptions to their daily lives."
The PSOE also proposes creating a social return mechanism for tourism so that part of the wealth generated finances the municipal overspending on cleaning, mobility, and maintenance of public spaces, and preserves local commerce in the most pressured neighborhoods. The vote on the VAT decree is scheduled for next Friday in Congress.
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