This Wednesday, the Governing Council of the Community of Madrid approved the second budgets presented by absolute majority to the Assembly of Madrid. The executive of Isabel Díaz Ayuso predicts that the accounts in 2025 will reach 28.662 million, or 4% more than current budgets. For the presidential team, these figures represent a “historic record” for spending in portfolios such as health, education, housing, social policies and transportation.
The spokesperson for the Regional Executive, Miguel Ángel García Martín, assured that the accounts planned for next year are “very effective”. “We sought budgetary rigor, but at the same time they are very demanding,” he added. His colleague in the Government Council, Rocío Albert, assured that these budgets had the approval of the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF).
The budget announced this Thursday will increase by 1.104 million compared to last year. This project does not provide for further deflation of personal income tax or a half-point reduction of all sections of personal income tax. However, a 100% bonus on regional management taxes on the purchase of housing is envisaged for those affected by metro line 7B, in San Fernando de Henares. This bonus will be applied in cases where the purchase of a house was used to acquire a property to replace the damaged one.
In 2023 and 2024, the Community of Madrid deflated personal income tax to deal with the consequences of the war in Ukraine and rising prices. This measure, which in recent years has become the “star” tax recipe of the right, consists of increasing the application brackets of the different types of income tax. Yet although it is presented as a formula to combat the impact of inflation, it is another way to reduce income tax if wages do not increase.
During the press conference which followed the presentation of the draft budget, Albert assured that “fortunately” the Spanish economy is not facing “a period of galloping inflation”. And he added: “Until the last moment when we see how much inflation builds up, we will not make the final decision, but we have almost made the decision not to deflate.”
A half-point reduction in all income tax brackets was also not included in the 2025 accounts, even though, according to Albert, in 2022 this measure allowed them to collect 900 million additional. “We considered the reduction of half a point throughout the legislature, but it will not be included in the 2025 budget,” added the Minister of the Economy.
Discounts on public transport
These accounts also include the regional bonus to maintain discounts on public transport next year, only if the government of Pedro Sánchez also maintains its share. This is how Albert explained it, recalling that the Regional Executive assumes 30% of this discount and that the Central Executive assumes the remaining 30%. “We are waiting for the Minister of Transport to communicate before the end of the year whether he will continue to maintain it,” he explained.
At the educational level, the Ayuso government plans an injection of 122 million to carry out one of its latest proposals: including the first ESO courses in schools. The aim of this measure, as Albert argued, is to ensure that “children do not stop being children before their time”. 25 public schools will teach 1st and 2nd secondary next year, thanks to the economic investments that the ministry plans to make in the coming months.
Despite the announcement, the inclusion of first cycle ESO classes in schools is prohibited by educational law, in particular against the provisions of Royal Decree 132/2010, of February 12, which establishes the conditions that secondary schools must meet, as published by elDiario. es.
Among the ideological struggles of the Ayuso government, its Minister of Economy defended the contribution of 1.7 million euros to the Toro de Lidia Foundation, an expense included in the 2025 budgets and which was not envisaged in the accounts previous ones. To justify this departure, Albert stressed that “everything related to the national holiday” and bullfighting “is culture” and “these are traditions”.
The presidential team maintains that the ministries which manage social expenditure will see their allocation increase, including Health (+294 million), Education (+239.5) and Family, Youth and Social Affairs (+84 million). ,5) which experience a greater increase. in absolute terms.
