This decisive step opens the door to the implementation phase of the project, which will imminently initiate the greatest urban transformation of Madrid.

The President of DCN, Mr. Álvaro Aresti, has thanked the Administrations and public institutions involved in the project for their vision, capacity for dialogue and resolve for understanding.

Madrid Nuevo Norte has obtained its final approval. The Governing Council of the Community of Madrid has given the go-ahead to the most significant urban development project for the region and the country in recent decades. With this milestone, the project’s planning phase comes to an end as the implementation phase starts.

Mr. Álvaro Aresti, President of Distrito Castellana Norte (DCN), has celebrated this decisive step, which ends a stage of urban planning processing that has taken 26 years. “The approval opens a new stage, which will allow the implementation of the largest urban transformation in the recent history of Madrid and currently in Europe,” he stressed.

Following the approval announcement, the President of DCN has conveyed his gratitude to all the Administrations and public institutions with which DCN has worked over all these years “for their vision, their capacity for dialogue and their resolve for understanding”, and has especially expressed his gratitude to the Ministry for Transport, Mobility and Urban Affairs, the Regional Government of the Community of Madrid, the City Council, public companies Adif and Renfe Operadora, and all the political parties that have supported the project, as well as all of Madrid’s people.

Mr. Aresti has also referred to the complex situation in which the approval of the project has taken place; in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. He thanked the Regional Government for their momentum to this urban plan while fighting to stem the pandemic with all the means at their disposal. Madrid Nuevo Norte is key in ensuring that the Community of Madrid becomes the economic driver of all of Spain and in rekindling hope in Madrid’s people.

In this regard, the President of DCN has remarked that the project approved today by the Community of Madrid “is not just any real estate project, but rather a singular plan, with a scope and transformative power without precedent.”

In his opinion, “Madrid Nuevo Norte is the solution that will allow us to overcome the challenges we are facing, contributing decisively to improving the quality of life for many people.” “Furthermore,” he added, “this plan will bolster the international position of our capital, our region and the entire country among the most thriving in Europe.”

This urban plan will be a major boost for our country in terms of employment, economic growth and key infrastructures. For example, the new Chamartín station will become the most advanced station in the continent and will be key to the development of high-speed rails in Spain (AVE).

With this plan, Madrid will become one of the most innovative and sustainable cities on the planet, because “the solutions in terms of sustainable mobility, energy efficiency and responsible consumption of natural resources in the new development project will be the most technologically advanced”, pinpointed Mr. Aresti.

Next steps

Mr. Aresti recalled that, following this approval, DCN has the will and capacity to tackle the upcoming phases of the project immediately, pushing forward Owning Boards and all other urban management instruments to begin works as soon as possible, in line with the hopes of Madrid residents and DCN’s commitment to them as well as to public institutions.

The President of DCN has also recalled that Madrid Nuevo Norte is “one of the best examples of political and social consensus, and of what can be achieved when the public and private sectors understand each other, aiming to better serve citizens.” “Today the transformation of Madrid begins,” said Mr. Aresti. “For this reason,” he concluded, “it is essential that we continue working together to bring it to fruition as soon as possible, just as citizens expect from us.”