There is a shortage of land in Madrid. The Madrid Association of Real Estate Developers (Asprima) held a meeting at the Espacio Fundación Telefónica with regional officials and representatives of the main compensation boards, at which the new version of the LandCam platform was presented and the challenges of urban planning in the region were analysed.
During the opening, Carolina Roca, president of Asprima, highlighted the recent signing of five agreements to join the tool: with Madrid City Council, the Retamar de la Huerta Compensation Board, Brunete City Council, the Regional Ministry of the Environment, Agriculture and the Interior, and Nueva Centralidad del Este. She pointed out that these agreements reinforce public-private collaboration in the development of affordable housing.
Adjustment in land forecasts
Fernando Moliner, vice-president of Asprima, announced that LandCam has updated its forecasts for finalised land in the Community of Madrid for the period 2025-2030, placing them at 126,579 homes, compared to the 128,441 estimated in 2024. "This adjustment responds to movements in key developments such as Campamento, ARPO, the south-east plans and Nuevo Brunete," he explained.
Moliner stressed that LandCam's main contribution is the time frame variable: "It is unique because it allows developments to be organised over time and attracts investment. Investors need to know when these plots of land will be incorporated," he stressed. According to his calculations, there is potential for 358,000 homes in the Community of Madrid, although some of this land has environmental limitations or is protected by the Natura Network. "If we want to solve the problem of scarcity, we will have to consider whether it is possible to take on more buildable land," he added.
Obstacles from compensation boards
The round table discussion "Urban Development in Madrid: Obstacles and Solutions from Compensation Boards," moderated by Fernando Moliner, vice president of Asprima, featured Rafael Olabarri, president of the Valgrande Compensation Board; Isabel Pelegrí, president of the Brunete Sector 5 Compensation Board; Miguel Díaz Batanero, president of the Los Cerros Compensation Board; and Darío Rivera, president of the Retamar de la Huerta Compensation Board.
The speakers agreed that the slowness of the procedures, legal uncertainty and the duplication of reports were the main problems delaying the development of more than 30,000 homes in these four areas.
Olabarri recalled that in 2022 Valgrande suffered a ruling by the High Court of Justice of Madrid that annulled the planning, forcing a new partial plan to be drawn up and approved in 2023, with a delay of several years in the reparcelling. Pelegrí pointed out that in Brunete, the reparcelling project has taken more than a year just to be registered, and highlighted electricity supply problems as an additional obstacle. Díaz Batanero reported that in Los Cerros, 60% of the first stage of urbanisation works have already been completed and the second stage has begun, while Rivera complained that in Retamar it has taken more than five years to approve the urbanisation project.
All called for an ambitious reform of the Land Law to speed up processes and avoid litigation, as well as the need for water and energy infrastructure to be developed in parallel with planning.
Measures in the autonomous communities
The second panel, "Urban transformations in Spain", featured Rafael García González, Deputy Minister for the Environment, Agriculture and the Interior of the Community of Madrid; Rocío Díaz Jiménez, Minister for Development, Territorial Coordination and Housing of Andalusia; Jorge García Montoro, Minister for Development and Infrastructure of the Region of Murcia; José Luis Mateo Hernández, Minister for Housing, Territory and Mobility of the Balearic Islands; and Pablo Rodríguez Valido, Minister for Public Works, Housing and Mobility of the Government of the Canary Islands.
Díaz highlighted that Andalusia has already identified more than 630 available plots thanks to a decree approved in February that allows the use of certain land to be changed for social housing. In the Canary Islands, Rodríguez pointed out that two decrees have been approved since 2024 to transform tertiary and industrial land into residential land and announced the creation of a housing observatory.
Mateo stressed that the Balearic Islands has drawn up a census of public land to address future regulatory reforms, while García Montoro explained that Murcia has reinforced positive silence in sectoral reports and introduced basic licences with reduced deadlines. For his part, García González stated that Madrid already allows the change of use of tertiary plots to social housing without modifying the buildable area.
Overall, all the communities agreed that streamlining procedures and public-private collaboration are essential to respond to the shortage of protected and affordable housing.