The Assembly of Madrid plans to approve this Thursday, thanks to the absolute majority of the PP, the Law on urgent measures for the increase in the supply of public housing. The vote will take place in a Plenary session also marked by the arrival of Pope Leo XIV to the capital this Saturday, a visit that will last until Tuesday.
This procedure culminates the approval of a regulation promoted by the Community of Madrid whose objective is to increase buildability and density and to favor the creation of 18,000 protected housing units. To this end, it incorporates exceptional urban planning tools aimed at mobilizing land, accelerating project processing, and cutting administrative hurdles that have so far hindered the launch of new developments.
Among the most relevant changes is the inclusion of undeveloped public networks intended for protected housing in the list of plots that may benefit from the increases in buildability and density contemplated in the law. This aims to make better use of available public land and significantly strengthen the capacity of administrations to promote protected housing.
This Tuesday, the Minister of Housing, Jorge Rodrigo, during a visit to the UVA de Hortaleza development, defended the measures included in the Bill to the media. "We did it before, having the opportunity to modify tertiary office uses, so that housing could be built, converting them into residential, and it has gone very well," he explained.
In this regard, he detailed that the Community has more than 8,000 housing units planned that are being built in former offices or on land zoned for office use and which are now being allocated for residential use. A strategy that is also being replicated for tertiary use of lodging and on private endowment land, in order to enable it for housing.
In parallel, the law incorporates measures to lighten bureaucracy when initiating urban developments and granting licenses, including the recognition of positive silence by the Administration. "We want real estate developers and citizens who are starting and risking their capital to build housing to do so in the shortest possible time," he emphasized.
Criticism from the opposition to the new housing law
The opposition, however, attacked the text this Monday at the press conference following the Spokespersons' Board. From Más Madrid they pointed out that these "urgent measures" were reduced to "urgent headlines" that were not going to immediately resolve "the anguish derived from the housing crisis." Faced with the proposal of the regional government, they advocated for limiting rental prices and tackling illegal tourist use housing.
The PSOE, for its part, denounced that the law "intends for public housing not to be protected forever." In their opinion, Madrid needs "a much larger public housing bank than it has."
Vox, which still has amendments pending for the vote in the Plenary session, maintained this Monday that this Law will promote "construction a little more," although it insists that the analysis of the real estate market must be done from the perspective of demand. "There is no more room in Madrid," they concluded.
Control session and questions about the visit of Leo XIV
The debate on the law will take place in the central part of a Plenary session that will begin, as usual, with the control session of the regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
Vox will question about the main political challenges of the autonomous Executive for the coming months; the PSOE will ask about aid for patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) in the region -- after accusing the Community of having reduced them by 40% for the most serious cases--; Más Madrid will demand explanations about the measures planned to mitigate heat waves in educational centers; and the PP will be interested in the visit of Leo XIV to the Community. This same week the Pontiff received Isabel Díaz Ayuso in audience in the Vatican.
Leo XIV will also be present in the questions directed at the councilors, along with questions about artificial intelligence, gender violence, prevention work in the countryside against possible fires in summer, or support for sports events in the region.
Debate on the universal school canteen law
After the control session, the Plenary will address the consideration of a Bill from Más Madrid to implement universal and free access to school canteens in the Community of Madrid. The proposal aims to extend it to all publicly funded schools, in order to guarantee "adequate and balanced nutrition" for students from Early Childhood Education to Compulsory Secondary Education, as well as Basic Vocational Training and Special Education.
The text includes a multi-year plan that begins with students in situations of vulnerability or at risk of social exclusion and progressively expands coverage until achieving "full" gratuity of the service.
However, this Tuesday the Minister of Education, Science and Universities, Mercedes Zarzalejo, defended the "effort" made in canteen scholarships and accused Más Madrid of wanting to "feed their children for free".
She argued that scholarships are granted to families that "meet the requirements of the bases and are the ones who need them." "If what Más Madrid wants is for us to feed their children for free, then that's another matter. But, of course, scholarships are given to those who need them," she concluded.
Appearance on the PAU in Madrid
Afterwards, the debate on the urgent measures law will be held, and then the Minister of Education will speak again to report on the organization and development of the University Entrance Exam (PAU), which began this Monday in the region.
She will do so at the request of Vox, which reiterated its call this Monday for a single exam throughout Spain, while the PP recalled that a change of this magnitude must be agreed upon beforehand with the Ministry of Education.
This week, approximately 42,000 students have taken the exams, distributed among the six public universities in Madrid. On Monday and Tuesday, they faced exams in Language and Philosophy and in First Foreign Language and History of Spain, while Wednesday and Thursday were reserved for elective subjects and modality subjects.
Health, waiting lists, and non-binding proposals
The Minister of Health, Fátima Matute, will also appear at the request of the PSOE to detail the functioning of waiting lists in publicly managed private hospitals.
This Monday, the socialists accused the regional government of "diverting public funds" towards the management of private centers. In addition, they criticized that public hospitals cannot open in the afternoons to perform diagnostic tests while there are Madrileños who go to a private hospital at "five in the morning" to get an MRI.
Matute defended last December the "management autonomy" in the organization of the Madrilenian Health Service (Sermas) and maintained that practices such as scheduling early in the morning for specialist consultations "is nothing new."
In April, he once again supported the "efficient model" of waiting lists in the Community, having the shortest average delay for non-urgent operations in the entire country.
Finally, in the turn of Non-Law Proposals (PNL), Más Madrid will try to get the Assembly to urge the regional government to prohibit advertising and sponsorship of events and activities by companies dedicated to extracting, treating, or marketing fossil fuels. The PSOE, for its part, will promote another initiative to recognize the contribution of migrants to Spain and show the Chamber's support for the regularization promoted by the central government.