Más Madrid appeals the license for the planned F-1 circuit in court

On Thursday afternoon, Más Madrid filed an administrative appeal against the municipal license that allows the construction of the Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit at the Ifema trade fair park , which is scheduled to be held in the capital every September between 2026 and 2035. The party headed by Rita Maestre had already opened the judicial route by appealing against the special plan that allows the remodeling of the area to host the event, and is now going to court again, considering that the license is null and void because it was processed as if the event were temporary, when it will be held for at least 10 years and will require assembly and dismantling work each time that will last several months.

This, the party argues in a document obtained by EL PAÍS, has allowed the project to move forward with a simplified environmental impact statement, rather than the more rigorous standard one, despite the fact that it will affect more than 144 hectares. For all these reasons, Más Madrid is requesting the precautionary suspension of the license.

"With this appeal, we're taking another step toward stopping this scam using all the legal means we can. [José Luis Martínez] Almeida [Mayor of Madrid] has been playing dirty from the very beginning, and we're going to stop him," explains Rita Maestre, leader of the Más Madrid municipal group.

“We believe there are extremely serious irregularities: Almeida has processed the license as if it were a temporary project, when it involves works that will permanently affect the entire area for at least 10 years,” he adds. “This is how the mayor is trying to score a goal against us, because by classifying it as 'temporary,' he avoids a much more rigorous environmental assessment, as is appropriate for a project of this magnitude. It's a legal fraud,” he continues. He concludes: “If the circuit is built with this fraudulent license, there will be irreparable and irreversible damage to public health, the environment, natural and urban heritage, and the fundamental rights of residents.”

The Madrid circuit will be a hybrid circuit. It will largely run through IFEMA, but it will also occupy more than a kilometer of streets used daily by residents and passing drivers. Both regional and municipal experts agree that hosting F1 will exceed the noise levels permitted by the capital's regulations during practice and race days, affecting residents closest to the track, as this newspaper reported .

These would include homes north of the M-11 in the Valdefuentes neighborhood, specifically those adjacent to the Ifema extension located on Francisco Umbral and Florentino Rodríguez Alonso streets (the distance to the circuit of the most exposed homes in this area is approximately 40 meters); and those around Calle de las Pedroñeras, in the eastern part of the Canillas neighborhood, as well as the northern part of the La Piovera neighborhood (the distance to the circuit of the most exposed homes in this area varies between approximately 320 and 500 meters).

These residences would be affected by noise levels exceeding 80 decibels during training and races, so the government has even suggested paying residents to stay home during those times.

Furthermore, official reports indicate that the construction of the circuit will require the felling of 700 trees, increase pollution (especially from particles left by racing car tires), alter the layout of a livestock trail, and could affect existing aquifers.

Since these changes will be irreversible once implemented, Más Madrid is requesting the temporary suspension of the license. To support its request, it puts forward this argument: there is no better example of why the license should not have been processed as a temporary license, but as a permanent one, than, it asserts, knowing that 10 temporary licenses will have to be processed, one for each Grand Prix to be held until 2035.

"The documentation incorporated into the file, largely after the public information process, prevented the effective exercise of the right to citizen participation, violating Article 23 of the Constitution and generating a fundamental nullity in the licensing process," argues the leading opposition party to the PP in its appeal, recalling that the consultation was raised "before the deadline" when the Special Plan that was supposed to serve as the regulatory basis for the development of the activity had not even been approved.

"Furthermore, the execution of the planned works—of enormous magnitude, environmental impact, and urban impact—during the duration of the judicial process would cause irreparable harm to public health, the environment, natural and urban heritage, and the fundamental rights of residents, especially the right to the inviolability of the home and to a home free from polluting emissions," it adds.

And it is exemplified: "The circuit will affect sensitive areas such as aquifers, livestock trails, protected trees, and nearby residential areas, without a rigorous environmental monitoring or control system having been implemented."

Vulnerable people

A February survey conducted by a neighborhood association, with 1,714 responses from anywhere, concluded that opposition to the project had increased from 35% to 53% in one year, due to fear of noise, pollution, and traffic jams . As a result, the Ombudsman, Ángel Gabilondo, has already received and accepted around 100 complaints .

The underlying arguments behind this opposition are the arguments Más Madrid presents in its appeal: Pollution and traffic jams. Months of construction. Fear of pests, since without the proper implementation of a prevention plan, the works could facilitate the transfer of rats from the sewers to the surface, according to the reports accompanying the permit.

Also, the possible impact, details the Más Madrid statement, on services intended for "vulnerable people, such as the Enfermera Isabel Zendal Hospital, which is located less than a kilometer northeast of the area in question, the Madrid Salud Hortaleza health center, the Summa 112 Emergency Coordination Service, the Hortaleza Early Care Team and Aenilce special education centers, the Gabriel García Márquez Institute, the Ramón Pérez de Ayala and Juan Zaragüeta public schools, the Doña Francisquita nursery school, and the Boreal nursery school."

And above all those reasons, there's the noise: because if the F-1 cars fly through Valdebebas, the residents will have to cover their ears... or leave their homes.