Paralysis is the word that best defines urban planning today in Madrid and, in the end, who pays the halt of all these projects are the people of Madrid, because it translates into a rise in prices of the land and consequently of the price in the housing before the lack of supply.
This is the stage that Madrid is experiencing today with the paralysis of the development of more than 60,000 homes, north and south of the city, in such emblematic projects as Operation Chamartín with 17,000 homes, Valdebebas with 1,000 homes, Metropolitan Residential with 400 homes , Berrocales with 22,000 homes and Operation Campamento with 11,000 homes, and these are just some examples of greater scope, which are still waiting for the green light by the City of Madrid to start walking.
Operation Chamartín has been unjustified because, if they say that 17,000 homes are too many, we must remember that at the time of the housing bubble 700,000 homes were built when a healthy market speaks of 180,000 units. So, talking about 17,000 homes in Operation Chamartín to 20 years is not talking about too many homes and more when there is demand in the northern area of Madrid and especially housing officially protected, which no longer remain.
In the real estate sector, the raw material is the soil, and it is not a product that when you need it you can have it overnight, it is a product that requires long-term planning. "With Operation Chamartín we have been working for more than 20 years. Today it is very easy to overthrow a project because there is a weakness in the urban regulations and Public Administrations should address this issue, because you can not do a city planning with a sentence, which Is what we are seeing both in the previous Government and in the current one, which is systematically judicializing all urban development actions. "
The paralysis of the projects has created a lack of housing supply that is necessary and that forces the demand to go to populations bordering Madrid. For example, in the north of the Capital it moves towards Alcobendas and San Sebastián, and in the south towards Rivas. These localities are already aware of all the demand that is being generated and in the end it translates into a rise in prices. In fact, the offer is almost exhausted in Rivas.
The cooperatives are the ones who are suffering all this paralysis, because they are families who have invested in that soil all their savings and their dreams.
It is clear that the current Government team of the City Council does not bet on the system of cooperatives, which are actually working middle-class families, or bet on sheltered housing. When paralyzing the project of Residencial Metropolitan is not only hurting 400 families; If the project does not go forward, it hurts all the neighbors of Madrid and this way we still do not have a city model.
If you look at the south of Madrid, the situation is the same. The demand is expelled to bordering populations due to lack of supply.
In short, both in the north and in the south, the City Council has put the brake and Madrid is without offer.