Madrid's transport card policy requires residency, sparking political dispute

The Community of Madrid enacted a rule, effective 15 June, that obliges users to be registered in the municipal register (empadronamiento) to obtain or renew the Tarjeta de Transporte Público Personal (TTP). The requirement applies to new cards and to duplicates, but is not retroactive; existing cards remain valid until they need renewal. Approximately 200,000 non‑resident users – about 3.4% of all cardholders – are affected, most of them students, migrant workers and other commuters.

President Isabel Díaz Ayuso defended the measure, stating that “the Madrid taxpayer finances 90 % of public transport, whether it is used or not” and that the funds are needed to modernise and expand the system. The regional government also announced plans to sign agreements with other autonomous communities so that university students from outside Madrid can access the youth transport discount without having to prove residency.

Opposition parties (Más Madrid, PSOE, Vox) denounced the rule as discriminatory and “racist”, filing motions to repeal it and threatening legal action. In the national Congress, the Sumar parliamentary group proposed an amendment to cut central funding to any region that discriminates by origin, but the governing PP rejected the amendment. Renfe publicly opposed the policy, calling it discriminatory and saying it was introduced without consultation.