Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

MADRID

KEY POINTS: What changes about life in Madrid in 2024

Spain's capital city is set for some pretty significant changes in 2024. Whether it be transport changes, tax cuts, new affordable housing or reduced university fees, the new year sees a whole host of changes in Madrid.

Published: 8 January 2024 09:10 CET
Updated: 13 January 2024 16:44 CET
KEY POINTS: What changes about life in Madrid in 2024
A view of Gran Vía in Madrid. Photo: Sebastián Valencia Pineda/Pexels

L3 Metro line

The long-awaited project to expand Metro Line 3 between Villaverde Alto and El Casar (in Getafe) is scheduled to be wrapped up in March and will be opened sometime in 2024, though the Ministry of Housing, Transport and Infrastructure have not put a concrete date on when it will be operational.

Construction work to further expand the Metro across the city will also be undertaken throughout 2024. Line 11 will see work on a tunnel between Plaza Ellíptica and Conde de Casal, and the central section of the line is expected to be between Valdebebas in the north down to Cuatro Vientos in the south.

On the suburban lines, work on Metro Line 5 is also expected to begin in early-2024, allowing travel without the need for changes from Carabanchel to Barajas Airport.

Valdebebas bus station

The new Valdebebas interchange will also open, and will be operational during the first half of 2024. Valdebebas will be the travel infrastructure backbone of the new Ciudad de Justicia area, and once the judicial headquarters are open, it is estimated more than 30,000 people will pass through the area per day.

Low-emission zones

2024 also sees the new phase of the city’s low emissions zone (known as ZBEs in Spain) enter into force, which further limits the circulation of certain types of cars through the city centre.

READ ALSO: Driving in Spain: Which towns and cities have low-emission zones?

This mainly affects older, large vehicles, and off-road vehicles which are not registered in Madrid. Put simply, cars that do not have the environmental stickers identifying where they can and can’t go in the city centre. These are mainly diesel vehicles registered before 2006 or petrol vehicles registered before 2000 – cars classified as ‘A’ vehicles.

READ ALSO: GUIDE: How to get an emissions sticker for your car in Spain

If you have an ‘A’ vehicle and it is registered in Madrid, you can circulate through the city for another year, until 2025.

The number of cameras used to enforce the ZBE has also increased, with another 200 that will be in operation from January 14th.

The fines for entering ZBEs without a sticker, or in diesel vehicles registered before 2006 or petrol vehicles registered before 2000 not registered in Madrid, will be €200.

University fees

Madrid’s regional government will reduce the cost of enrolment fees paid by students from Spanish-speaking countries when enrolling in universities in the region, who will now be charged the same amount as any other EU or Spanish citizen.

Until now, students from Latin America had to pay double the normal price for enrolling (known as la matrícula).

Housing

The capital will also see thousands of new homes built in 2024.

Isabel Ayuso, President of Madrid, has repeatedly promised to expand the region’s public housing stock, and in 2024, the government expects to finish building 1,900 homes as part of its ‘Vive Plan’.

In addition, the Ministry of Housing, Transport and Infrastructure will finish 274 properties in Alcorcón in March. These houses are intended to be available at affordable prices, and will be sold or rented for up to 40 percent below the market value.

Ayuso has also announced that during the first half of 2024 another 568 homes will be finished in San Sebastián de los Reyes.

Schools

Schools and educational centres are also set to be expanded in Madrid.

As many as 17 new schools could be opened across the region, including in the municipalities of Madrid, Arroyomolinos, Getafe, Cobeña, Rivas-Vaciamadrid and Arganda del Rey. There will also be two new public schools in Tres Cantos and Colmenar Viejo, as well as a centre for special needs children in the capital.

Schools of the districts of Arganzuela, Hortaleza, Villaverde, Vicálvaro and Vallecas are also set to be finished in 2024.

Tax cuts

For the second consecutive year, the Madrid region will cut Personal Income Tax (known as IRPF). The rationale behind the measure is essentially to keep more money in people’s pockets: to prevent those Madrileños that have received promotions or salary increases from moving up a tax bracket and paying more.

The law that will allow the government to implement these tax cuts (which will take into account all the relevant brackets and deductions available) has yet to receive the final stamp approval from the Madrid Assembly, but with the Partido Popular’s absolute majority it is not anticipated the bill will encounter any problems in being passed.

READ ALSO: Why is Madrid traditionally so right wing?

At the municipal level, the Madrid city council has cut the Property Tax (IBI) rate from 0.456 percent to 0.442 percent, and reduced the Construction Tax (ICIO) rate in the city to 3.75 percent.

READ ALSO: What is Spain’s IBI tax and how do I pay it?

Taxi fares go up

New fares for the city’s taxis also entered into force from January 1st, with pricing rising. The biggest change covers journeys from Barajas airport to inside the M-30 motorway that separates inner Madrid from the outskirts and vice versa. The price has risen by 10 percent, from €30 to €33, though it remains a flat rate.

Up until 2024, the airport fare had remained unchanged for almost a decade.

READ ALSO: Everything that changes in Spain in 2024

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

PROPERTY

BBQs, nudity and plants: What are the balcony rules in Spain?

Though many people hang laundry, plants, and flags from their balcony, in Spain the rules on what you can and can't do on 'el balcón' are not well-known.

Published: 8 May 2024 17:13 CEST
Updated: 11 May 2024 08:31 CEST
BBQs, nudity and plants: What are the balcony rules in Spain?

Imagine the scene: you’ve just bought or signed the lease on your dream apartment. It’s bright and airy, with plenty of space, and even has a nice-sized balcony to get some fresh air on. You can do whatever you want there, right? 

Not exactly. In Spain the rules on what you can and can’t do on a balcony (even if it’s private) depend on a few factors, namely the regional and local rules, as well as getting the approval of the building’s homeowner’s association – known in Spain as la comunidad.

Some of them might just surprise you.

READ ALSO: ‘La comunidad’: What property owners in Spain need to know about homeowners’ associations

There are four main things or activities on balconies that could potentially put you on the wrong side of the local rules and even get you fined: barbecues, plants, laundry, and flags.

In all cases (even if you don’t think you’re breaking any rules) you’ll generally need to consider two things: firstly, does this affect or change the building’s façade? And secondly: will la comunidad allow it?

Barbecues

In Spain there is no national law prohibiting barbecues on private property, so in principle it is legal as long as the barbecue is lit in a private space such as your own balcony, garden or terrace, and not a shared space.

Often in Spain, the roof (usually referred to as la terrazza) is a shared space people use for storage and hanging their laundry, so be sure to check with the comunidad.

In terms of your own balcony, however, although there’s no law saying outright you can’t have a barbecue, you’ll need to take into account the rules and regulations in force in each locality or region. There may also be specific rules within the building that long-term homeowners have developed over the years.

As we will see, many of these low-level regulations are delegated to local governments and town halls in Spain, so the answer to these sorts of questions is usually: it depends where you are.

However, according to Article 7 of Spain’s Horizontal Property Law, “the owner and the occupant of the flat or premises are not allowed to carry out in it or in the rest of the property activities prohibited in bylaws, which are harmful to the property or which contravene the general provisions on annoying, unhealthy, harmful, dangerous or illegal activities.”

This basically gives your neighbours the right to complain about noise, smells, smoke and any possible fire risk in or around their building, which barbecues could plausibly fall under.

As with co-living anywhere in the world, regardless of the regional or local rules, employ some common sense: be reasonable, listen to neighbour’s concerns and take up any disputes with the President of la comunidad.

READ ALSO: What you need to know before having a barbecue in Spain

Plants

Again, with plants the responsibility falls on each local authority to set the rules. In Spain, most regions and town halls state that, as long as the architectural or structural elements of the building are not changed or weakened in any way, putting plants on your balcony is permitted.

However, note that many terraces and balconies do have maximum weight regulations that must be respected in order to guarantee their safety, which is 200kg per square metre. If this figure is exceeded (and it can be proved) you could theoretically be fined.

Laundry

Laundry lines criss-crossing the streets might be one of the more picturesque images of Spanish life, but the people doing it might actually be breaking the rules.

How do you know? You guessed it, it depends where you. You’ll need to check with your local authority on this one, though municipal regulations in Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia all regulate hanging laundry from your balcony, which is again outlined in the Horizontal Property Law.

This principally seems to be because it affects the façade of the building (a common theme when it comes to balcony rules in Spain).

In places with rules about hanging laundry from balconies, you could be fined up to 750 euros if you don’t comply with the rules.

However, according to Foto Casa, even if you live in an area where there are no bans or penalties against hanging laundry on the balcony, you’ll still likely need the permission of la comunidad.

READ MORE: Spain’s weirdest laws that foreigners should know about

What about flags?

Whether it be the Spanish flag, the Catalan, Valencian or Andalusian flags, or LGBT, trade union or football team flags, flags proudly hanging from balconies is another mainstay of Spanish life.

It’s also one of the more controversial ones too, especially within comunidad meetings. Hanging flags on the balcony, as well as allegedly altering the aesthetics and security of the building (the same concern as with laundry) often has ideological connotations that can cause conflict.

Again, as with laundry, hanging flags on the balcony will require the approval of all the owners within the community, something that must be agreed at a meeting, as per the Horizontal Property Law.

However, if the flag is placed inside the property, as it is a private property, fellow homeowners cannot oppose it, even if it is visible from the street, according to Foto Casa.

Nudity 

Article of 185 of Spain’s Penal Code only considers being naked at home to be obscene exhibitionism and sexual provocation if it affects minors, in which case it is punishable with a fine or up to a year in prison.

Therefore, you could technically sunbathe shirtless or naked on your balcony in most cases without getting into trouble, although it won’t necessarily go down well with your neighbours and/or flatmates and you be reprimanded for it.

READ ALSO: Can you go shirtless or wear a bikini in the street in Spain?

SHOW COMMENTS