Madrid mayor Martínez‑Almeida orders Casa Árabe eviction, confronts illegal park structures controversy

Mayor José Luis Martínez‑Almeida announced that the Casa Árabe must vacate the historic Escuelas Aguirre building by 1 September. The municipality will reclaim the neomudéjar‑style building for rehabilitation and new municipal uses, invoking the 2008 lease decree that allows recovery without compensation.

In a separate dispute, the city’s work in the Dehesa de la Villa park placed about 400 wooden trunks set in cement – informally called “palitroques” – at a cost of roughly €600,000. The park, declared a Bien de Interés Cultural, was altered without the required heritage approvals, prompting neighbourhood groups to file a pre‑varication complaint and demand the removal of the structures, calling the act a “salvajada”.