From a thirty-year promise to the first land sales
Every date below is from the public record. The window that matters is open right now: the first plots go to market before the year ends.
The promise is made
Renfe and the Ministry of Development conceive “Operación Chamartín”: an extension of the station and a reordering of the rail yards that divide the north of the city. The concession goes to a group led by the state bank Argentaria and the builder San José, on condition that the bank keeps at least 75% of the company. A fifteen-year legal fight over expropriations follows.1,2
The promise is given numbers
A study by the Lawrence R. Klein Institute (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), commissioned by the promoter, puts the programme at €25,197 million of investment over 25 years, a €15,200 million contribution to national GDP, €5,868 million in tax, and 348,064 jobs — 201,576 in construction and 146,488 once offices and shops are occupied. 85% of the employment is to land in the Madrid region.3
The promise acquires its land
Crea Madrid Nuevo Norte and the public rail companies (Adif, Adif AV, Renfe) formalise the transfer of the Chamartín and Fuencarral rail yards before a notary: €1,245 million payable to Adif over twenty years, a first instalment of about €215 million covered by a shareholder capital increase. The promoter now owns roughly half the developable land and rights.4,5
The promise is capitalised and approved
Shareholders inject a further €66 million (€50m from the majority bank), taking share capital to €570.19 million. On 12 March the City definitively approves the urbanisation project for Las Tablas Oeste: 741 homes of which 38% municipally managed, 123,795 m² of offices, 14,000 m² of retail, nine green spaces totalling 91,000 m². The promoter decides not to build itself but to sell serviced land.6,7,8
The promise breaks ground
The acta de replanteo is signed on 15 April; demolition begins the week of 7 May under contractor Hercal, with 76% of materials to be reused on site. Four ámbitos in sequence: Las Tablas Oeste, then Malmea–San Roque–Tres Olivos (7,138 homes, the largest), the Chamartín Business District (offices with 2,600 homes, 62% affordable) and the station itself.9,10,11
The promise is priced
The promoter aims to sell the first residential and tertiary plots before the end of 2026, in operations worth €300–400 million, to fund the following phases; Malmea works toward constituting its Junta de Compensación for a 2027 start; the majority shareholder, advised by Rothschild, is seeking a strategic partner for part of its 75.54% stake. Meanwhile the rules the district will be delivered under are hardening: Verification of Payee has been mandatory for every euro transfer since 9 October 2025, the final texts of the EU Payment Services Regulation were published on 23 April 2026, and the Ley de Consumo Sostenible — which would cap ticket resale at original price plus CPI — was approved at first reading by the Council of Ministers in July 2025 and is still working its way toward the Cortes.12,13,14,15,16