The union of the PP with Junts for the omnibus decree of the central government (PSOE and Sumar) meant a defeat for Pedro Sánchez’s executive and a problem for the Community of Madrid. According to the government delegate in the region, Francisco Martín, each Madrid beneficiary of the Minimum Living Income will stop receiving 614 euros in 2025; the 1.1 million Madrid retirees will lose 619 euros; and the Community itself will stop receiving 1,286 million. A social earthquake with its epicenter in the transportation system: the State will no longer provide half of the 60% bonus agreed to make public transportation (Metro, Cercanías and Buses) cheaper that it shared with the executive of Isabel Díaz Ayuso. A political problem of the first order for the baroness, since Madrid is the region most economically affected: either the ministry finds a new way to pay the 220 million that it invested in the discount in 2024, or Ayuso will have to choose between assuming that expense, to that the reduction remains 60%; reduce it to the 30% that Madrid had been contributing; reduce it even more; or delete it directly.
The gap in the regional president’s plans—caused by the vote of the PP, her party, against a decree that mixed multiple measures in a single vote, some acceptable and others not for the conservatives—is unparalleled. Of the 220 million that Madrid received, it went to 93.9 from Catalonia, 40.4 from Andalusia or 22.6 from the Valencian Community, according to data published on his X account (former Twitter) by Minister Óscar Bridge.
While a solution is found, which the central government is already working on, the Community will maintain the bonus “for now.” But the measure of that time in which aid will continue is calculated more in days and weeks than in months. And the opposition is pending.
Thus, Más Madrid registered an initiative on Wednesday in the Assembly for the regional government to maintain the 60% discount on its own. ”The PP with its vote against has knocked down the subsidies, and Ayuso’s PP has to assume the consequences,” analyzed deputy María Acín.
The PSOE, for its part, announced that it will present motions in the same sense in the regional Parliament and the community councils. “The PSOE of Madrid is going to demand that, while they try to fix the mess created by Feijóo in the Congress of Deputies, Mrs. Ayuso assumes the effects of her party’s political decision against Madrid,” they stated in the party that leads the Minister Oscar Lopez.
These are the effects for Madrid, in terms of transport, of the PP and Junts overturning the government decree on Wednesday.
“In 2024, 220 million euros of aid were given to the Community of Madrid directly and 34.3 million euros to municipalities such as Torrejón, Tres Cantos, Valdemoro, Móstoles, Alcalá de Henares, Coslada, Fuenlabrada, Madrid,” explains a spokesperson. of the Ministry of Transport. “These data are used to calculate what is lost in 2025, because more money was expected due to an increase in travelers even if the bonus fell a little in the second half. [del acuerdo, que se firma semestralmente]”, he adds. And he points out: “These figures do not include funds for suburban, medium distance, Avant and bus lines.”
Aid for public transport was promoted by the central government in September 2022. At that time, Pedro Sánchez’s Executive announced the subsidy of 30% of the price, and encouraged the regional governments that so desired to complement this reduction by financing another 20%, in order to reduce the bill that the citizen paid by half.
| Fertilizers subway | Price with discount | Price before of the discount |
|---|---|---|
| Zone A | 21,80 euros | 56,60 euros |
| Zone B1 | 25,40 euros | 63,70 euros |
| Zone B2 | 28,80 euros | 72 euros |
| Zone B3 | 32,80 euros | 82 euros |
| Zone C1 | 32,80 euros | 82 euros |
| Area C2 | 32,80 euros | 82 euros |
| Zone E1 | 44,20 euros | 110,60 euros |
| Zone E2 | 52,72 euros | 131,80 euros |
| 30-day youth subscription (between 7 and 26 years, valid for all areas) | 8 euros | 20 euros |
| Senior Citizen Pass (over 65 years, all the zones and Child Pass (under 6 years old) | Free | Free |
The objective was to help the population in the midst of the inflationary crisis resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
When the time came to decide whether or not to maintain this program in 2023, the central Executive added a condition: the 30% state subsidy.
Consequently, Ayuso used the last Government Council of 2022 to announce that Madrid would join the project, providing its 20% financing in January 2023. And then he increased the bet: since February of that year, his contribution has reached up to 30%, so the discount in the region has shot up to 60% (with the exception of the 10 travel bonus, where the cut has remained at 50%). A policy whose impact the regional government estimated at 30 million per month, and whose continuity is now in question.
Thus, a spokesperson for the Madrid government explains that “operationally it is impossible to immediately change the rates.” “We are going to study how it affects [que no hayan entrado en vigor las medidas recogidas en el decreto ómnibus] and what steps we follow,” adds this interlocutor. “So for now it remains the same.”
What is not known is how long the Díaz Ayuso government will be willing to pay alone for a bonus that . In fact, Madrid will try to get the ministry to find a way to maintain the financial contribution that covers its 30%, since its validity is linked to the 30% that until now was paid by the regional government. And if the State cannot finally cover its share, Madrid will predictably reconsider its share. In that case, all options will be open: from the Ayuso government maintaining its 30% bonus, to reducing it or eliminating it completely.
“Now Óscar Puente has to stop tweeting, get to work and propose another way to subsidize public transport,” the Madrid government spokesman, Miguel Ángel García Martín, said this Wednesday during the press conference held every week. after the meeting of the governing council. “It occurs to me that they transfer the necessary funds to us, already in a structural way.”
This newspaper asked the Madrid Transport Department to detail how much money each party contributed to the agreement, without receiving a response.
