NEW CALL FOR GRANTS FOR THE MODERNIZATION OF MUNICIPAL MARKETS AND FOOD GALLERIES
2025/01/02
The new call for subsidies, approved by the Governing Board, includes a dozen new features: Madrid allocates 6.2 million euros to the modernization of markets and food galleries in 2025.
- The action includes among the eligible expenses those of investment and current expenses for concessionaires and merchants of the markets of Madrid, as well as for the owners of food galleries and their stalls.
- New concepts are included that are eligible for subsidies of up to 95% of the accepted and approved budget, including the updating of accessible directories and the installation of QR codes, as well as interventions in markets that must be submitted to the competent commission on matters of historical heritage.
- This call for grants, framed within the Strategic Subsidy Plan 2024-2027, constitutes the main financing instrument of line 3 of the Comprehensive Strategy for Strengthening Commercial and Hospitality Activity in the City
- This line of aid is added to the call for subsidies approved in the last Governing Board for revitalization and training in the commercial, hotel and hospitality sectors, endowed with 1.2 million euros, and to the digitalization one worth 1.5 million euros.
The Governing Board of the City of Madrid, signed on 26/12/2024, has agreed to allocate 6.17 million euros in subsidies to continue the modernization of municipal markets and food galleries by 2025.
The new call allows, in a prepayable form, the financing of projects executed between July 1, 2024 and December 31, 2025 and includes a dozen new features aimed at promoting the competitiveness and quality of service in these public facilities, which are a benchmark for local commerce and neighborhood life in the city, facilitating, among other aspects, investments for the renovation of the physical and commercial structures of the establishments, for dealers and merchants.
The project is part of the Comprehensive Strategy to Strengthen Commercial and Hospitality Activities in the City, which aims to continue promoting the modernization and structural and functional improvement of these establishments, which are crucial for the commercial and economic activity of the city.
The deadline for submitting applications will be 20 calendar days from the day after the publication of the call in the Official Gazette of the Community of Madrid, scheduled for next January.
News from the 2025 call
The new document establishes that the holders of concessions for municipal markets under an administrative concession regime will have among their eligible expenses up to 95% of the approved and accepted budget, those corresponding to the realization of a study by an external technical consultancy (due diligence) to analyze the current state of the municipal market facilities and their assets and the interventions in markets that must be submitted on a mandatory basis to the competent commission in matters of historical heritage, such as works and installations in markets built before 1950, subject to the protection regime for assets of heritage interest.
The installation of planters and work to improve the natural plant decoration of the market and its surroundings, within the framework of agreements signed with Madrid City Council, the updating of accessible directories and the installation of accessible QR codes will also count as eligible expenses, in addition to the expenses derived from the updates of these QR codes.
The investment costs eligible for subsidies of up to 50% of the accepted and approved budget include investments for low-voltage electrical installations, as well as those intended to correct defects indicated in the periodic inspection report for works and installations for modernizing the fire protection system and those for correcting defects indicated in the periodic fire inspection report.
On the other hand, the maximum amount of aid set for the cases of current expenses related to circular managers, wholesale customer service points as well as maintenance costs corresponding to the improvement of the natural plant decoration of the market and its surroundings within the framework of agreements signed with the Madrid City Council is 20,000 euros.
Regarding the evaluation committee, the participation of an external member belonging to the extraordinary chair on circular economy in the management of public markets, created by virtue of the agreement signed between the Madrid City Council and the Francisco de Vitoria University, is planned.
Municipal support for markets
These grants are a constant within municipal policies, which prioritize the improvement of these spaces as the backbone and cohesive axes of the city, which is why their amounts have increased over the years. Between 2020 and 2024, the total amount of grants awarded is close to 18 million euros for 329 projects.
This line of aid is added to the call for subsidies approved at the last Governing Board meeting on December 19 for the revitalization and training in the commercial, hotel and hospitality sectors for 2025, which has a budget of 1.2 million euros, and to the already published call for digitalization, endowed with another 1.5 million euros, whose submission period runs from January 13 to 27, 2025.