Puente processes transport aid for the regional governments, ignoring tensions with Madrid, and Andalusia insists on free passes for children under 14.

The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility has accepted applications from 13 regional governments, the two autonomous cities, and 128 city councils to receive aid to partially or fully cover their citizens' transport passes under the new public transport discount scheme, which will come into effect on July 1.

In an initial resolution, the requests from the city councils of Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Valencia, and Seville , and from all the autonomous communities except Castile and León, which criticized them a few weeks ago as "meager" after the deadline had already closed, have been accepted. Andalusia has also accepted the request, insisting that the Ministry also transfer the amounts for the free transport passes for children under 15 years of age that are still pending. The Community of Madrid, which will receive the entire amount requested after, where appropriate, the agreement with the Ministry regarding publicity regarding the source of these funds has been resolved.

In addition to the budget to finance Renfe and other rail and coach operators' services, which are also subject to discounts, the Ministry of Transport will distribute 355 million euros among regional governments, provincial councils, and city councils to contribute to the reductions in urban transport services under its jurisdiction. This money will be used to make travel passes free for children under 15, to provide a 50% discount for users between 15 and 26 , and to contribute a 20% discount on the price of passes for the rest of the population. This must be combined with another contribution, at least 20%, to be made by other administrations.

To establish this system, the Ministry of Transport has already prepared a provisional list of applications that have been accepted and those that have not been accepted, for various reasons, such as late submissions, duplicate submissions, or ineligibility. These applications have until June 30 to submit objections , correct errors, and, if necessary, be added to the list of accepted applications.

These include 32 of the 50 provincial capitals and other major cities, and all but one of the autonomous communities, Castile and León, with whose government the minister, Óscar Puente , had a disagreement a few weeks ago because they did not submit their applications on time - the deadline expired on April 30 - and the government of Alfonso Fernández Mañueco argued that the reason was that they were "meager."

If the resolution is not reached within the appeal period, Castile and León will have to pay for urban transport under its jurisdiction. In any case, the mayors of six of its nine provincial capitals—except Ávila, Zamora, and Soria—have properly requested the aid, and it has been accepted for processing.

On the other hand, the Andalusian Regional Government continues to demand the full amount it is entitled to finance and co-finance its citizens' transport passes, despite the fact that, until further notice, Puente has left the corresponding amount to pay for free passes for children under 15 years of age without paying. Puente advertised the measure as his own and without specifying that the financial resources for it come entirely from the central government. Puente stepped forward to clarify that the budget belongs to his Ministry and "punished" the Regional Government by not providing that money.

Although Juanma Moreno 's government insisted on making this budget available during a meeting at the Ministry last month, the dispute remains unresolved.

It is with the Community of Madrid, which did something similar a week earlier, when the Regional Transport Consortium published a note about free travel passes for children under 15, failing to identify the source of the funds. This earned Isabel Díaz Ayuso's government a warning from Puente that it could have to return the funds and even pay a fine triple the amount if it wasn't clear that the funds came from the government. Unlike with Andalusia, the Madrid case was quickly resolved after Madrid pledged to do so.

The new aid scheme, which will be in effect in the second half of this year , modifies the current discounts and also incorporates a new criterion that cities must meet to receive them. In addition to financing 20% ​​of adult season tickets, towns with more than 50,000 inhabitants or islands with more than 20,000 must have a delimited Low Emission Zone , with access controls and restrictions, and an "active sanctioning regime."

112 million for Madrid until June; 50.8 million for Catalonia

In this initial list, the Ministry has not informed the regions and municipalities how much money they will have available to pay for transport passes. They will have this information when the final decision is made, once the appeal period, which is now open for those rejected, closes. The Ministry of Transport will then inform each administration of its estimate of how much money each will be entitled to and the advance payment it will grant until the settlement is made early next year with actual spending data to reconcile the exact figure.

Although the amounts will not be the same because the discounts will vary from July 1st compared to the current system, Madrid will receive almost 13 million of the 97 million that the Ministry distributed among the municipalities during the first half of the year . Barcelona will receive 6.8 million; Valencia, 5.2 million; and Seville, 5.8 million.

By region, the Ministry's allocation of 211 million euros for aid for the first half of 2025 shows that the Community of Madrid will receive 109 million; Catalonia, 50.8 million; Andalusia, 20 million; and the Valencian Community, 9.2 million.