Community of Madrid
The Governing Council has approved the Draft Law on Promotion and Balanced Development in the Region (LIDER), a new regulation that will facilitate the construction of more housing and reduce bureaucracy, cutting urban planning processing times from 12 years to 4 years. The text, which was announced by the President of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, during the most recent State of the Region Debate, was drafted following a participatory process involving all stakeholders and consultation with experts. It will now be submitted to the Madrid Regional Assembly to continue its legislative process.
The law simplifies the entire urban planning framework with a comprehensive vision for the Community of Madrid. To achieve this, it will take into account the needs of each municipality, environmental and landscape protection, the creation of infrastructure and public services, as well as the social, cultural, and economic characteristics of each locality.
Among the main new features of LIDER is a new model of Municipal Strategic Plans (PEM), which will allow local councils to approve their urban planning frameworks within four to six years, reducing the current timeframe by more than half. In addition, development planning will be reduced from seven to four years and, in certain cases, may be completed in as little as one year through urban planning ordinances.
In this regard, 42 municipalities, including the city of Madrid, have already begun preparing their Municipal Strategic Plans under Law 7/2024 on balanced development in environmental matters and land-use planning.
The regulation will also simplify land classification, reducing it from five categories to just three: developed land, protected rural land, and non-protected rural land. The objective is to facilitate management and provide greater certainty and clarity for property owners, municipalities, and investors.
LIDER also strengthens municipal autonomy. Municipalities with more than 15,000 inhabitants will be able to approve all of their urban planning instruments, while the regional government will retain legal oversight functions. In addition, all municipalities will be able to approve their urban planning ordinances, detailed studies, and catalogues of protected assets and spaces.
The new law will also facilitate the development of agricultural and livestock activities on rural land by simplifying the procedures required for their implementation. Furthermore, authorization of these projects will be granted directly by local councils.
A pioneering model in Spain for neighborhood regeneration
LIDER also introduces a pioneering model in Spain that will enable municipalities to regenerate neighborhoods and improve public and private spaces without placing the costs on residents. It will also facilitate the protection of historical heritage by eliminating the need to amend an entire planning framework in order to protect a single building.
With regard to smaller municipalities, the law establishes a specific framework to adapt urban planning to their needs and make project management easier. In addition, as a new measure, the Community of Madrid will provide a technical support service to help less populated municipalities prepare their urban planning frameworks. This assistance will include preliminary studies, environmental procedures, and the reports required to develop their proposals.
LIDER complements other regional government initiatives aimed at reducing bureaucracy and accelerating housing construction. One such initiative is Law 3/2024 on urban planning measures for the promotion of subsidized housing, under which, in its first year, licenses have been granted for the construction of 3,679 homes, with a target of reaching 10,000.
In addition, the Community of Madrid has launched the Regional Urban Planning Accelerator, which centralizes the processing of reports to speed up procedures and, where appropriate, reduce deadlines by half, facilitating the development of housing and economic activity projects. It has already supported projects involving the construction of 17,600 homes, nearly 6,000 of which are subsidized housing units.
Public entertainment events and recreational activities
LIDER will also update the regulations governing public entertainment events and recreational activities, which have been in force for almost 30 years, adapting them to the current realities of leisure, culture, gastronomy, and the major events hosted by the region.
Furthermore, municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants will be responsible for authorizing exceptional events held within their boundaries. The text also updates the sanctions regime and prohibits the use of open flames, live fire, flares, and other pyrotechnic devices in hospitality and leisure establishments where there are no designated spaces for such uses