Madrid city hall and Consumer Ministry clash over tourist flats listed for Formula 1

The arrival of Formula 1 in Madrid has reopened the fight over tourist flats after Airbnb listings near the future Madring de Ifema circuit advertised stays costing more than €17,000 for three nights. Socialist city councillor Antonio Giraldo filed a complaint with Madrid’s Activities Agency over properties allegedly operating without tourist-use licences.

The complaint has triggered a dispute between administrations. The opposition is demanding immediate inspections from the government of Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida. Madrid’s city government, however, has pointed to the Consumer Ministry and questioned why it has not stopped the listings on digital platforms.

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The Consumer Ministry only has powers to sanction practices that have a national reach, with effects in more than one autonomous community, and does not deal with those carried out only in one city.

The ministry, led by Pablo Bustinduy, says Madrid is the competent authority for asking platforms to remove illegal advertising when the alleged breach concerns municipal rules. It says the Consumer Ministry can sanction practices with a national reach and effects in more than one autonomous community, but not activity limited to a single city.

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A year ago, it announced that responsibility for sanctioning platforms and tourist-use housing advertised illegally belonged to the Consumer Ministry.

Borja Carabante, Madrid’s delegate for urban planning, environment and mobility, did not provide details about inspections around the circuit. Instead, he said the national government had announced a year earlier that responsibility for sanctioning platforms and illegally advertised tourist flats belonged to the Consumer Ministry. He described the ministry’s initiative as a “failure” compared with Madrid’s Plan Reside.

The opposition rejects that explanation. It says the city’s Activities Agency is responsible for inspecting tourist properties and ordering the closure of those operating illegally in Madrid. Socialist sources called on the delegate to process the complaint, send municipal inspectors and close any properties that fail to meet the rules. They said no Spanish government official has the power to close an irregular flat in the capital, while Madrid city hall does.

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What the delegate needs to do is stop passing the buck, process the complaint filed by the PSOE, send municipal inspectors and check whether those homes comply with the rules. If they do not, he must close them.