The Socialist Municipal Group in the Madrid City Council has launched an information campaign under the slogan “Almeida owes you money and this is what you get”, with which it aims to focus the debate on the waste fee on the contrast between the bill that residents will have to face and the state of dirtiness of the capital.
The initiative was born, as explained by the socialists in a statement, with the aim of facilitating for Madrid residents the procedures to appeal the waste fee for 2026 and defend “their right to recover what was paid in case it is also annulled by Justice”.
Through the website of the PSOE in the Madrid City Council, citizens will be able to access a practical guide with the necessary steps to file an economic-administrative claim against the waste fee corresponding to 2026, along with a downloadable claim model, information on submission deadlines, and instructions for carrying out the procedure electronically or in person before the Municipal Economic-Administrative Tribunal of Madrid (TEAMM).
The precedent of the ordinance annulled by the TSJM
The campaign has been activated after the High Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) declared null and void the ordinance regulating the waste fee for 2025 due to substantial defects in its processing. Despite this, the Government of José Luis Martínez-Almeida has appealed this decision before the Supreme Court, which, according to the socialists, prolongs the uncertainty about the refund of the amounts collected from taxpayers, which exceed 300 million euros.
For the Socialist Municipal Group, it is “unacceptable” that, after this judicial pronouncement, the mayor has decided to maintain the collection of the fee in 2026 “without assuming responsibility for what happened”.
Reyes Maroto accuses Almeida of maintaining an “expensive and unfair” fee
The spokesperson for the Socialist Municipal Group, Reyes Maroto, has argued that “Almeida approved an expensive and unfair waste fee in 2025, Justice annulled it, and instead of admitting his mistake and facilitating the refund of the money, he has decided to continue litigating and charge it again to Madrid residents in 2026. We want to help residents so they can defend their rights”.
According to the party, generally the deadline to appeal the 2026 fee will be from December 1 to 30, while for new registrations in the census the deadline will be one month from the day following individual notification.
“The objective of this initiative is that no Madrid resident fails to exercise their rights due to ignorance of administrative procedures or the difficulties involved in facing a bureaucratic process,” Maroto said.
Criticism of the city's cleanliness
The Socialist Municipal Group also maintains that the controversy over the waste fee reflects a municipal management model “that demands ever greater economic efforts from citizens without offering in return an improvement in public services”.
“Almeida charges Madrid residents more while Madrid is dirtier every day. Bins overflow, rubbish accumulates in the streets, and neighborhood complaints multiply. Residents pay more, but receive an increasingly worse service,” criticized Reyes Maroto.
The councilor has called the waste fee a new “Almeida botch” and an example of the mayor's “incapacity” to manage the city's essential services, while insisting that the mayor transfers the consequences of his decisions to households.
Campaign in all districts
With this campaign, which the Socialist Municipal Group will take to all districts, the socialists want to offer a “useful and direct” response to citizens, providing tools and information to appeal a fee whose collection in 2026 is maintained despite the judicial annulment of the previous year's ordinance.
The party emphasizes that the ruling on the 2025 fee does not automatically imply the annulment of the one corresponding to 2026, but considers it necessary for residents to know the available avenues to challenge their bills and preserve their possibilities of collection.
“While Almeida insists on defending in court a fee annulled by Justice, we are on the side of the people of Madrid, helping them to claim and recover their money. Because governing is solving people's problems, not creating new ones and forcing them to pay the consequences,” concluded the municipal spokesperson for the PSOE.