Madrid opens industrial areas to aparthotels and flexliving to spread tourism beyond the centre

Madrid is preparing for a change that could transform the way tourism moves around the city. The City Council is working on a plan to allow new types of accommodation, such as aparthotels and flex-living formats, in sixteen industrial areas across eight districts. The aim is clear: for visitors not to be concentrated solely in the centre, and for neighbourhoods such as Fuencarral, Barajas and Usera to receive part of that flow.

The proposal, promoted by the Urban Planning, Environment and Mobility department, proposes amending the regulations in force so that land in industrial areas governed by Norma Zonal 9, grade 3 can accommodate not only hotels, but also guesthouses, lodging houses and flexible accommodation. Until now, the law only allowed hotels in these spaces, excluding other options that the tourism sector had been calling for to expand the short- and medium-stay offer.

The special plan, which could reach the Junta de Gobierno before summer, would affect more than 240 plots in districts such as Arganzuela, Chamartín, Ciudad Lineal, Hortaleza and San Blas. The City Council has reviewed more than 3,000 industrial plots and concludes that many have lost their purely industrial character, evolving towards mixed and tertiary uses, which opens the door to new activities.

Among the areas identified are the industrial estate on the Carretera de Burgos, the surroundings of Costa Rica street next to the M-30, Avenida de Andalucía and Barrio del Aeropuerto. The idea is that the arrival of visitors in these neighbourhoods will boost local trade and help revitalise less frequented areas, in line with the municipal strategy of decentralising tourism and easing pressure on the centre.

The current regulations, dating from 1997, were designed to prevent tourist accommodation from becoming disguised housing, especially in loft format. However, the City Council believes that the transformation of many industrial estates towards offices and services now makes it possible to make the rules more flexible. In addition, it will be studied case by case whether other industrial areas, governed by grades 4 and 5, can join this opening in the future.

The planned changes affect more than just the tourism offer; they may alter the rhythm of neighbourhoods that had until now remained outside visitors' usual routes. Madrid is already starting to move in that direction.

Madrid's industrial estates have undergone a quiet transformation over the past decade. Many spaces once devoted to heavy industry have given way to offices, small shops and services. This evolution has changed the life of outlying neighbourhoods, which now seek new formulas to attract activity and improve their urban environment. The arrival of tourist accommodation may be the next step in this constant adaptation to the city's pulse.

Updated: 5 March 2026, 19:45

The DondeGo editorial team has expanded the information with the scope of the municipal plan: 16 industrial areas in 8 districts and more than 240 plots affected, in addition to the timetable planned before summer. The change may alter day-to-day life in areas such as Fuencarral, Barajas and Usera by attracting short and medium stays and redistributing visitors towards shops and services outside the centre.