“No available space was found for the selected procedure.” This is the message that very often appears on the Madrid City Hall website when a citizen wishes to make an appointment in person to register, cancel or modify their address on the register. It therefore proliferated an illegal market of people selling dates on social networks or advertising pages to carry out this procedure. To avoid this and other irregularities, the municipality will intensify control through “stricter documentary verification, cross-checks to detect duplication, integration with external bases such as the INE or the cadastre, and the limitation of mass registrations in housing, unless proven otherwise”, as detailed by the delegate of Economy, Innovation and Finance, Engracia Hidalgo.
The subject was raised within the departmental commission following a question from socialist councilor Enma López on measures to improve the management of the municipal register, who described it as “mission impossible” to obtain an appointment for certain people. This “odyssey”, he assures, has given rise to “an illegal market of pages selling appointments between 50 and 300 euros while shouting a reliable and efficient process without advance payment”. Just do a search on a well-known announcement page to find “help with all types of administrative procedures”, particularly those related to immigration. This procedure is the gateway to “many citizens’ rights”.such as health services, school, access to social services…”, argues López, proposing that there be at least five employees in the Línea Madrid offices.
Many of those who resort to this new fraudulent market are foreigners who They must demonstrate their roots in the capital to be able to obtain residence and work permits. Indeed, in addition to those offering meetings, certain publications come from people concerned: “Register wanted in Madrid”. In one of them, for example, Giorgina says that she “over a month and a half trying to make an appointment and, until today – December 4 – I have not been able to obtain it. It’s urgent because I’m currently pregnant and I need to be registered.” The responses received from other users express the same situation: months without getting an appointment because sometimes it doesn’t work “or without taking too long to enter the information.”
Fruit of despair, They offer “100 or 200 euros for two years of registration”. Payment is made “on leaving the Town Hall”, once the register has been obtained in the capital. There are requests with more than 50 comments that show the urgency of getting this done. In addition, according to the socialist councilor, “the tenants had to pay 100 euros more to be able to register in the accommodation and there are properties where more than 70 people are registered”. This last question, precisely, is one of those that the Consistory will pursue.
In addition to these anti-fraud measures, the manager defended the modernization plan on which Madrid City Hall has been working since 2019.Work is underway on the complete digitalization of registry procedures, on process optimizationin anti-fraud measures and in strengthening personal and technological means”, affirms Hidalgo, who assures that the results are already visible: in 2025 alone, 2.3 million certificates were issued, exceeding for the first time the million with digital signature through municipal headquarters. The data intermediation platform was also launched so that citizens avoid providing documents in many procedures.
Electronic prioritization of procedures aims to free up in-person attention. “Each online procedure frees up time and this will undoubtedly make it easier for people who want in-person attention to have it,” insists the head of the Economy. Additionally, remember that they are complying with “full electronic implementation of all registry procedures” and, as progress is made, “In 2026, the two missing procedures will be integrated: modification of change of address and registrations due to birth.” Beyond these measures of the Municipal Executive, Hidalgo also highlighted the collaboration of the Consistory with the National Police and the Municipal Police, which is “permanent”.
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