The battle over Madrid’s garbage tax has entered the final countdown. The courts have overturned the “garbage tax hike” due to serious procedural flaws, but the City Council still holds the Supreme Court’s ruling in its hands: it has a maximum of 30 business days from the notification of the ruling to appeal, a period that began at the end of March and is already partially up by this point in April. Whatever José Luis Martínez-Almeida’s team decides in the coming days—whether to appeal or let the ruling stand—will shape the future of refunds and the money already collected from more than 1.5 million Madrid residents.
The Ninth Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) has declared the ordinance regulating the 2025 waste management fee null and void. The judges found that the City Council did not make the complete technical-economic report justifying the fee calculation available to the public during the public comment period, a defect they describe as “substantial” and which invalidates the approval of the tax.
The ruling was made public on March 22 and 23 and affects the Madrid City Council and the 2025 fiscal year, the first in which the tax was levied. But the ruling is not final: the TSJM notes that the City Council may file an appeal with the Supreme Court within 30 days of the official notification of the decision. That notification occurred around those dates, so the clock has been ticking for several weeks now.
What happens if the City Council appeals
If Almeida chooses to appeal to the Supreme Court within the deadline, the TSJM’s ruling will not become final until the Supreme Court issues its decision, which could take months or even years. During that time, the City Council will not have to refund a single euro of what was collected in 2025, not even to those who appealed within the deadline. The more than 300 million euros collected will remain in the municipal coffers while the case is heard on appeal.
Consumer associations and platforms such as ASUFIN and FACUA warn that an appeal to the Supreme Court would freeze refunds and prolong legal uncertainty for taxpayers, who would remain unaware of whether they will recover what they paid or what will happen with the tax in 2026 and subsequent years. Opposition parties and neighborhood associations are pressuring the City Council to withdraw the appeal and accept the TSJM’s ruling, beginning to design a refund plan, at least for residents who filed their appeals in a timely and proper manner.
Meanwhile, the 2026 fee is not being suspended
The legal battle over 2025 does not halt this year’s schedule. Despite the annulment, Madrid residents will have to pay the garbage tax in 2026, as explained by both the City Council and the media outlets covering the case. When the new bills arrive, another 30-day period to appeal will begin, regardless of what happens with the appeal to the Supreme Court.
In other words, the city is living in a sort of dual timeline: a judicial timeline, marked by that 30-day period already underway to decide whether to go to the Supreme Court and postpone the refunds, and an administrative timeline, in which the City Council continues to issue bills and taxpayers must decide whether to pay and appeal or to accept the “basurazo” while they wait for the final word.
In the coming days, Almeida’s decision—whether or not to push the 30-day deadline—will determine what kind of battle will be fought from now on: one focused on how and to whom to return the money, or a prolongation of the conflict in the Supreme Court with refunds on hold and tax bills landing, once again, in mailboxes across the city.