Más Madrid Advocates for Progressive Property Tax on Large Landlords and Corporate Owners
Madrid, April 21, 2026 – Más Madrid, the principal opposition force in the capital, has formally submitted a legislative proposal to Congress, through the Sumar platform, advocating for a significant overhaul of the Property Tax (IBI) regulations. The proposed reform aims to introduce a progressive IBI system, wherein municipalities would have the authority to levy higher taxes on property owners with greater real estate wealth. This initiative, unveiled on Tuesday, seeks to ensure that the IBI, which constitutes the primary source of municipal revenue, operates on a tiered structure, with owners of higher-valued properties contributing a larger share.
Key Provisions of the Proposed Reform
The core of Más Madrid’s proposal necessitates an amendment to the state-level Local Treasury Law. Beyond the progressive taxation based on cadastral value, the reform also includes provisions for increased tax rates for large property holders and entities that are not natural persons, such as real estate companies. Furthermore, the initiative seeks to extend the same IBI benefits currently available to large families to single-parent families.
The IBI calculation is currently determined by multiplying the cadastral value of a property – a value influenced by factors such as location, age, land use, and environment, and set by the General Directorate of the Cadastre – by a tax rate established by each municipality. This rate typically ranges between 0.4% and 1.3% of the cadastral value. In Madrid, for instance, the current rate is 0.414%, one of the lowest, having been reduced five times under Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida’s administration. In contrast, Barcelona applies a rate of 0.66%, and Valencia, 0.57%. Crucially, this percentage currently remains uniform for all properties within a municipality, irrespective of their value.
Progressive Taxation and Disincentivizing Speculation
The proposed reform entails modifying several articles of the state law to establish a progressive, tiered tax schedule based on the cadastral value of the property. This means that properties with a higher cadastral value would be subject to a higher tax rate, and vice versa. While the specific thresholds for these tiers are not detailed in the current text, they would be determined by individual municipalities. However, amending the Local Treasury Law, an ordinary law, requires a simple majority in Congress, which could prove challenging for the current government.
Another significant aspect of the reform is the introduction of increased quotas for large property holders and non-natural person owners. Under the 2023 Housing Law, a large landlord is defined as an individual owning at least 10 properties in the same municipality (excluding garages and storage rooms), or five in a stressed area. Más Madrid’s proposal lowers this threshold to four or more residential properties for an owner to be considered a large landlord, thereby allowing for the application of an IBI surcharge.
Specifically, large landlords could face a coefficient of up to 1.6 on their IBI payment, while non-natural person owners – such as real estate companies – could see a coefficient of up to 1.3. These coefficients would be compatible with each other. The text clarifies that in cases of co-ownership, this coefficient would apply when more than 25% of the property does not belong to a natural person. Más Madrid argues that the primary objective of these measures is to discourage real estate speculation. “By allowing progressive tiers, local entities could alleviate the tax burden on low and middle incomes without compromising total revenue, while increasing pressure on higher real estate assets,” states the proposal.
Rita Maestre, leader of Más Madrid in the capital, explained the reform: “What we propose is very simple: to allow municipalities to raise taxes on those who accumulate housing, just as they accumulate shares in their investment portfolio. Starting from three homes, but increasing the more homes they accumulate.” She asserted that the goal is to “drive away large speculators” from cities like Madrid, which was a central consideration during the proposal’s development. Maestre added, “The law makes no distinction between those who own one home and those who own fifteen, making it impossible to penalize those who hoard a basic and essential good.”
Regarding the rationale for a progressive IBI, Maestre maintained that it “will allow normal homes, 90% of them, to pay less or maintain what they pay now. It would be raised for homes that today are worth more than one or two million euros in the market.” She contrasted this with the IBI reductions approved by Almeida, which “mean 17 euros less per year for a resident of Vallecas, while for one in Núñez de Balboa, it is 400 euros less.” Manuela Bergerot, Más Madrid’s spokesperson in the Madrid Assembly, echoed this sentiment, stating, “We must fight against inequality, and that means recovering a fiscal system with a minimum of sense, a progressive fiscal system where those who have more contribute more, and which discourages the hoarding of housing.”
Benefits for Single-Parent Families and Tenant Protection
This proposal aligns with an announcement made last November by Barcelona’s Mayor Jaume Collboni, who indicated that his government would explore the possibility of higher IBI payments for owners of multiple apartments and would submit a proposal to the Ministry of Finance. In 2025, Sumar had already registered a similar initiative in Congress, then a Non-Legislative Proposal, to increase taxes on properties with a cadastral value exceeding 250,000 euros and to impose 50% surcharges on tourist flats in stressed areas.
The reform also includes an expansion of benefits for single-parent families. Currently, large families receive a 90% bonus on the full IBI quota. The proposed modification extends this reduction to families composed of a single parent. A crucial final point in the proposal stipulates that if, as a result of these modifications, the IBI quota increases, the affected property owner will be prohibited from passing this increase on to the tenant. “This prohibition shall apply to the fiscal year in which the tax quota increase occurs and for the following three fiscal years,” the proposal states.
