Madrid Christian organizations attack Ayuso and Almeida for policies towards homeless people and migrants: "They are exclusionary and misanthropic"

Currently, the policy of the Community of Madrid is moving towards strengthening the residence/registration requirement to access the Personal Public Transport Card (TTP) and, therefore, the Transport Pass, while simultaneously the regional Government announces interregional agreements to open exceptions, especially for students. Since June 15, 2026, new instructions published in the BOCM limit the issuance of the TTP to people registered in Madrid or in municipalities included in agreements (zones E1 and E2 of Castilla-La Mancha and some of Castilla y León). At the regional parliamentary level, there is no specific law on the “end of registration,” but there is a recently approved bill that modifies Law 2/2016 and a strong political debate with non-legislative initiatives to remove this requirement. In summary, the restrictive rule is in force, non-registered people have very limited access, and possible changes are shaping up through agreements between communities and parliamentary pressure, rather than through an already approved reform.

1. Current normative and administrative situation

At the level of the regional Executive, the key reference is the Announcement of June 5, 2026 from the Ministry of Housing, Transport, and Infrastructure, published in the BOCM on June 12, 2026, which sets the “instructions regarding residence requirements for issuing the Personal Public Transport Card (TTP-personal),” applicable from June 15, 2026. According to this provision:

• To obtain a new TTP-personal (and its duplicates), it is necessary to prove residence in a municipality of the Community of Madrid or in certain municipalities of Castilla-La Mancha (tariff zones E1 and E2) and Castilla y León included in current agreements with the Madrid Regional Transport Consortium (CRTM). Proof is provided by registration certificate or authorization for telematic consultation.

• The possibility of issuing the TTP to holders of large families is maintained on an exceptional basis, for “technological reasons,” as long as strictly necessary.

• Already issued cards are not canceled: the measure applies to new issuances and duplicates, affecting approximately 3.4 % of users according to data cited in the press.

These instructions are already fully in force and constitute the central piece that currently regulates formal access of non-registered persons to the TTP. The text also refers to the CRTM website for more operational details: Personal Public Transport Card, tickets and passes, and the management platform web TTP.

2. Processing and initiatives in the Assembly of Madrid

At the regional legislative level, the available information points to a single directly related initiative in the sample consulted:

• The Bill PROP.L-6(XIII)/2023, promoted by the Popular Group, which modifies Law 2/2016. In the plenary session of December 14, 2023, the total amendments with alternative text presented by Más Madrid and the Socialist Group were rejected, and the text was finally approved, as published on 12-28-2023 in the Assembly Bulletin (BOAM 13-31).

The available excerpt does not detail whether this reform expressly changed the access regime to the Pass for non-registered persons, but it does confirm that the legal framework of the Consortium / Madrid transport has been very recently adjusted. Meanwhile, according to press information collected by Demócrata, the opposition (especially Más Madrid and PSOE-M) has registered a Non-Legislative Motion to eliminate the registration requirement, accusing the regional Government of applying a kind of “Madrid national priority.” No further procedural details of this NLM are available in the received extract, but its nature indicates that it is not a binding rule, but a political orientation to the regional Government.

With the available information:

• There is no record of an approved legislative initiative that reverses the registration requirement.

• What exists is already effective regulation that reinforces it, and political promotion initiatives (NLM, parliamentary criticisms) to review it.

3. Announcements and political commitments of the regional Government

In parallel to this internal system closure, the Madrid Executive has launched a message of openness very focused on one group: non-registered students. According to recent information from the regional Government itself and forums such as Nueva Economía Fórum, President Isabel Díaz Ayuso has announced that she will seek new agreements with other autonomous communities so that students and university students who live outside Madrid but study in the region can access the Transport Pass without needing to register. See, for example, the information from Nueva Economía Fórum and the official note from the Community of Madrid about agreements for students.

In terms of processing, these interregional agreements do not go through the Assembly as laws, but through negotiation between governments and, if applicable, agreements of the CRTM and the involved Executives. As of today, the situation can be summarized as follows:

• The restriction with registration is approved and in force.

• The existing agreements with Castilla-La Mancha (zones E1/E2) and certain municipalities of Castilla y León already allow a limited territorial exception.

• The new announced agreements to expand access to students from other Autonomous Communities are in the political phase of announcement and negotiation, not yet appearing as approved rules in the bulletins.

4. Summary: what does this mean today for a non-registered person?

In practice, institutional processing results in that, as of June 2026:

• A person not registered in the Community of Madrid nor in municipalities covered by agreements cannot obtain a new ordinary TTP-personal, except for very limited exceptions (large families, already issued cards).

• There is not yet an approved reform that generally opens the system; what exists are restrictive instructions in force, a recently modified transport law, and an intense political debate with NLM and opposition initiatives to change the model.

• The most advanced institutional relaxation path is that of agreements between communities for certain groups (mainly university students), which is in the announcement and negotiation phase, not immediate general application.

The President of the Community of Madrid plays a central role in the orientation and coordination of social policies and, more indirectly and limitedly, in migration policies. In social policies, they exercise executive and normative development competencies within the framework set by the State, through the competent ministries (social services, housing, health, education, family, etc.). In migration matters, the State retains exclusive competence over foreigners, immigration, asylum, and nationality, so the President cannot regulate entries, permits, or expulsions, but can design integration, reception, and social service policies for the migrant population. Additionally, as the highest authority of the regional executive, they direct government action, propose regional norms, and represent Madrid before the State and the EU in these areas.

General framework of competencies of the regional president

In the Spanish constitutional system, the president of an autonomous community:

– Is the highest representative of the community and the ordinary representative of the State therein (institutional function and relationship with the central Government).
– Directs the action of the Government Council, sets political priorities, and coordinates ministries.
– Signs and promulgates regional laws approved by the Assembly and can file constitutional challenges against laws or state decisions affecting regional competencies.
– Promotes the legislative initiative of the regional Government (bills and legislative decrees) and regulatory norms (decrees of the Government Council).

These general functions specifically project onto social policies and integration of migrants when these matters are assumed by the Statute of Autonomy and developed by regional laws.

Competencies in social policies

The “social” scope in Madrid includes, among others, social services policies, social inclusion, family support, childhood, elderly, dependency, disability, social housing, health, and part of education. The State sets basic legislation (for example, bases of health, social security, equality, dependency), while the Community of Madrid assumes development and execution competencies.

Regarding these policies, the President of the Community of Madrid can:

1. Set priorities and political strategy
Through their government program and Government Council agreements, the presidency decides the main lines: social services model (universalization, targeting, partnership with third sector entities), type of social housing policies, orientation of family aid or programs against poverty and exclusion. Although daily management corresponds to ministries, the general orientation and budget priorities are politically decided around the presidency.

2. Direct and coordinate the competent ministries
The president appoints and dismisss ministers, defines departmental structures, and can reorganize competencies (for example, grouping family, youth, and social affairs, or creating a specific ministry of housing or migration and integration if decided). This organizational design capacity significantly conditions how social policies are executed and their political weight within the government.

3. Promote regional normative and legal reforms
In the social field, the Madrid Government can draft bills on social services, housing, childhood, large families, regional minimum income, etc. It is the presidency that politically decides which reforms are prioritized and submits them to the Government Council for approval and sending to the Assembly. Additionally, it can approve decrees and regulations of development (for example, on the organization of the social services network, access criteria to aid, planning of residential places or resources for homeless people).

4. Define social spending within the budget framework
The regional budget project comes from the executive, and the president sets the spending framework in health, education, housing, or social services. This is key for the real scope of any social policy, including care for vulnerable migrant populations.

Competencies in migration and integration matters

The Constitution assigns the State the exclusive competence over immigration, foreigners, nationality, asylum, and international protection. This means that the President of Madrid:

– Cannot enact rules on entry and exit of foreigners, visas, residence and work permits, expulsions, or granting nationality and asylum.
– Does not control the National Police or Civil Guard, which depend on the Ministry of the Interior, although they can coordinate with the Government Delegation and raise political needs or objections.

However, within their competencies in social services, education, health, and housing, the president can:

1. Develop integration and reception policies
They can promote regional programs of reception and integration of migrant populations: intercultural mediation, language learning, job orientation, school support for minors, prevention of discrimination and racism, or emergency reception devices for punctual arrivals coordinated with the State. These actions are articulated through ministries of social services, education, employment, and housing.

2. Regulate access to regional services
The Community of Madrid decides, respecting basic state regulations and constitutional jurisprudence, the specific conditions of access to its social services network, protected housing, emergency social places, and regional benefits, both for nationals and resident foreigners. The presidency politically guides whether criteria are more inclusive or restrictive for certain migrant groups (always within state legal limits and basic equality of rights).

3. Representation and institutional dialogue
As a representative of the Community, the president participates in sectoral conferences and cooperation bodies with the central Government where immigrant integration policies, distribution of European funds (Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, ESF+), and reception coordination are addressed. They can defend Madrid’s position on reception quotas, additional financing, territorial distribution of resources, and specific regional needs.

Limits and coordination with the State

In both areas, but especially in migration, the president’s action is conditioned by the state framework:

– In social policies, Madrid can develop and manage but must respect basic state legislation (for example, in dependency, health, or equal treatment). A regional norm contradicting it can be challenged by the central Government before the Constitutional Court.
– In migration, any attempt to regulate entries, permits, expulsions, or recognition of legal statuses would be unconstitutional. Regional action must focus on integration and services and cannot discriminate violating basic principles of equality and non-discrimination established in state and European legislation.

In summary, the President of the Community of Madrid has broad capacity to guide and execute social policies and integration of migrants through ministries and regional legislation, but always framed within a context where the State retains core decisions on foreigners and immigration.

A homeless person can indeed register in Madrid because basic state regulations require admitting to the register those who reside in the municipality even if they lack a domicile, with intervention from social services. The minimum formal requirements are the general ones for any resident (personal identification and habitual residence in the municipality), plus prior communication of the case to the competent social services when there is no domicile. Registration does not by itself grant all social rights, but it officially certifies residence and domicile for administrative purposes and grants the status of resident, which allows using municipal public services and serves as a basis to access health, education, and social services according to their specific legislation. However, I do not have the internal instructions or specific ordinances of the Madrid City Council on “fictitious domicile” or domiciles of social services.

1. Basic legal framework applicable in Madrid

The municipal register regime is generally set by Law 7/1985, on Local Regime Bases and, above all, by Royal Decree 1690/1986, of July 11, approving the Regulation of Population and Territorial Demarcation of Local Entities (BOE-A-1986-21944), which also binds the Madrid City Council.

This Regulation establishes that:

“The municipal register is the administrative record where the residents of a municipality are recorded. Its data constitute proof of residence in the municipality and habitual domicile therein. Certificates [...] shall have the character of a public and reliable document for all administrative purposes.” (Royal Decree 1690/1986).

It adds that:

“Every person living in Spain is obliged to register in the register of the municipality where they habitually reside.” (Royal Decree 1690/1986).

Registration confers the status of resident from the moment of registration.

2. Registration of people without domicile (homeless people)

The key provision for homeless people is the one that expressly regulates the registration of those who lack domicile in the municipality:

“The registration in the municipal register of people residing in the municipality who lack domicile therein may only be carried out after notifying the competent social services in the geographical area where that person resides.” (Royal Decree 1690/1986, amended by Royal Decree 141/2024).

From this derive several important points for Madrid:

• The City Council cannot exclude homeless people merely because they lack housing; the state regulation expressly provides for their registration if they reside in the municipality.

• The specific requirement is that, before registering, the City Council must notify the competent social services. This communication is not discretionary but a condition provided in the Regulation.

• The Regulation does not detail how the “domicile” of these people should appear in the register (whether the address of a social resource, a special code, etc.). These details are set in municipal norms and instructions not found in the consulted sources.

3. Minimum formal requirements to register

Generally, the Population Regulation requires that the registration form contain certain mandatory data for each resident (name and surname, sex, habitual domicile, nationality, place and date of birth, identity document, etc.), as stated in the corresponding article of Royal Decree 1690/1986. The basic regulation indicates that:

“The registration in the municipal register shall contain as mandatory only the following data of each resident…” (and then enumerates those data in the Regulation itself).

Applied to a homeless person in Madrid, the formal requirements would be, in summary:

• Actually reside in Madrid, even on the street or in temporary resources, habitually.

• Provide identification data that allow filling the registration form with the mandatory fields (in the case of foreigners, the NIE number or, failing that, passport or other valid document, according to the Regulation’s criteria).

• In the absence of domicile, the City Council must notify social services before formalizing the registration, as ordered by the cited article.

• In the case of foreigners without long-term residence, comply with the periodic renewal every two years provided in the same Regulation, with the warning that non-compliance may lead to the expiration of the registration (Royal Decree 1690/1986).

I do not have the ordinance or internal protocol of the Madrid City Council specifying which domiciles are used for these registrations (fictitious domicile, social services address, etc.), nor additional documentation or report requirements.

4. Effects of registration on public services

From a legal point of view, registering in Madrid implies:

• Acquiring the status of resident from the registration, with the rights the Regulation enumerates: to be an elector and eligible, participate in municipal management, and especially, “use municipal public services in accordance with their nature and access communal benefits” (Royal Decree 1690/1986).

• Having a public document that certifies residence and habitual domicile in Madrid, which has practical effects for access to health, education, or social services, insofar as their sectoral norms require or value residence in the territory.

• Allowing that your registration data be transferred to other administrations when residence or domicile are relevant for their competencies (for example, assignment of health or school center), as stated in the article on data transfer of Royal Decree 1690/1986 and Law 12/1989 on Public Statistical Function (BOE-A-1989-10767).

The register does not by itself create the material right to a specific health, educational, or social benefit (those are set by their respective laws), but in practice it is the basic instrument of proof of residence and neighborhood that those laws usually require or take as reference.