The Ayuso Government shoots up the fire rate for municipalities and will collect 37.8 million more in two years: "Each citizen will pay more"

The Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso has increased the fee paid by Madrid municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants for receiving the service of the regional Fire Department. The new system will allow the Community of Madrid to collect an additional 37.8 million euros during 2026 and 2027, a bill that will end up weighing on municipal budgets and, by extension, on their residents.

The measure, exclusively advanced by 'Somos Madrid', from 'elDiario.es', began to be applied with the first installment paid in July. The amount required per inhabitant has increased from 30.93 to 35 euros, a rise slightly higher than 13%.

The blow is even greater in more populated towns. Ayuso also raised the maximum number of inhabitants used to calculate the fee, which until now was limited to 100,000 people. The cap reaches 120,000 inhabitants in 2026, will rise to 130,000 in 2027, and will reach 150,000 from 2028.

An increase placed at the end of the Budgets

The Madrid Executive approved the reform on December 29, 2025, through the second final provision of the regional Budgets for 2026. The modification changed article 220 of the Law on Fees and Public Prices of the Community of Madrid and altered both the price per resident and the population limit at once.

The result is especially noticeable in cities like Móstoles, Alcalá de Henares, Getafe, or Leganés. Before the reform, the maximum bill was around 3.09 million euros. When the new cap is fully implemented in 2028, the largest municipalities will be able to pay up to 5.25 million annually, about 2.16 million more.

The forecast collected by 'Somos Madrid' places the Community's income from this fee at 76.3 million euros during 2026 and 89.1 million in 2027, compared to the 63.8 million it received with the previous model. The settlement is formally addressed to the city councils, although its calculation depends on the number of residents and reduces the municipal resources available for other services.

The coincidence with the 37.8 million claimed by firefighters

The increase comes after another tough episode for the Ayuso Government. A ruling by the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid forced the Community to recover the amounts of a special contribution from insurers that were not allocated to real investments against fires between 2019 and 2023.

The judicial procedure affects a source of income different from the municipal fee. The coincidence is in the figures. The complaining firefighters estimate that 37.8 million euros remained to be invested, practically the same amount that Ayuso will now collect additionally through the city councils during the next two fiscal years.

The TSJM did not set a specific figure, although it established that the money collected through that contribution should be dedicated "solely, exclusively and entirely" to real investments in the service. It also ordered that all pending amounts corresponding to the period between 2019 and 2023 be applied to that purpose. The resolution became final after the Community did not appeal it.

The Madrid government questions the calculation made by the firefighters and maintains that it is already allocating these revenues to material resources and infrastructure. The Ministry of Environment, however, has not explained the specific reasons for the increase applied to the municipalities.

The mayor of Rivas, Aída Castillejo, believes that Ayuso is transferring the consequences of her management to the city councils. "The consequence is very clear: each citizen will pay more, 35 euros a year in taxes, to sustain a public Fire Department service that still does not have the resources and personnel it needs," she denounced.

Getafe has also rejected the increase. Its City Council paid about three million euros in 2025, has gone on to bear 4.2 million this year and will reach 5.25 million with the full deployment of the new calculation. The mayor, Sara Hernández, has accused the Community of demanding more money for "a clearly deficient service" and without sufficient investments or improvements.

The city councils already paid the first installment with the new price in July. The next increase will arrive in 2027 with the expansion of the cap to 130,000 inhabitants. A year later, Ayuso will be able to charge up to 5.25 million annually to each of the large municipalities served by the regional Fire Department.