Madrid hands over 5,000th public rental home since 2019 at Cañaveral 8 project

Handover at Cañaveral 8

Madrid Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida attended the key handover ceremony on Friday for Cañaveral 8, a public housing development in the southeastern district of Vicálvaro. The development comprises 96 affordable rental apartments managed by the municipal housing enterprise, EMVS Madrid. The milestone marks the 5,000th municipal public rental home handed over since Almeida took office in 2019. The project represents a municipal investment of over 19.2 million euros, a figure rising to nearly 20 million euros when factoring in the value of the land. Deputy Mayor Inma Sanz, housing delegate and EMVS president Álvaro González, and Vicálvaro district councillor Ángel Ramos joined the mayor at the event. Among the new residents receiving keys was a family of three, Julio, Jocelyn, and their son Caleb, who were designated as the recipients of the 5,000th unit.

Tenant criteria and rental pricing

The Cañaveral 8 building includes 34 two-bedroom units, 54 three-bedroom units, and eight four-bedroom units, along with 144 garage spaces and 96 storage rooms. Four of the apartments and four garage spaces are specifically adapted for individuals with reduced mobility. Tenants will pay an average monthly rent of 550 euros, with payments capped at 30% of their total household income. Allocation of the homes occurred through a lottery targeted at young people and families with minor children earning up to 3.5 times the IPREM public income index. Under these parameters, eligible gross annual earnings reach a maximum of approximately 44,000 euros for a couple with two children.

Development scale in El Cañaveral

The Cañaveral 8 complex is part of a wider municipal initiative encompassing 1,212 affordable rental homes across 13 developments in the El Cañaveral neighbourhood. EMVS Madrid has completed 1,123 of those homes, representing roughly 93% of the planned total. Nine developments have now been handed over to tenants, and nearly 900 families currently reside in the neighbourhood. The thirteenth development has already held its lottery and is scheduled for delivery in the coming months, while lotteries for developments 10 and 11 are planned soon. Approximately 80% of all homes across the 13 developments are earmarked for young people and families with minor children.

Political contrast and housing debate

The ceremony took place on the same day the Spanish Congress of Deputies debated two housing decree-laws facing announced opposition from Junts, PP, and Vox. It also followed an encampment in Puerta del Sol after the eviction of a local resident named Maricarmen, whose case the city council mediated earlier in the week. Almeida used the handover to compare municipal actions directly with national government initiatives.

Today is also a good day for the City Council to contrast its policies with those of the Government of Spain.

Almeida stated that Madrid has increased its public housing stock by 40% and plans to reach 1.5 billion euros in housing investments by the end of the term. He added that the municipal administration has developed sufficient land to grant construction licenses for 60,000 homes across the city.