Madrid Metro cracks down on illegal food vendors in 23 operations

Arepas and empanada sellers can no longer operate in Madrid Metro

At the Legazpi, Oporto, Plaza Elíptica and Pacífico stations, it was common to find coolers filled with Colombian empanadas and arepas. For more than a year, dozens of vendors had been stationed at metro entrances offering their products to commuters. But this week, Madrid Metro launched an operation against this illegal street vending, carrying out 23 interventions around the stations.

The phenomenon was first detected by the authorities in 2024, but it grew sharply the trinc year. Home-cooked food, with no health inspections or licences, posed a public health risk and unfair competition for regulated establishments, which must comply with strict tax and health regulations.

Mixed reactions after the operation

The measure has been welcomed by those demanding tighter control of informal commerce linked to immigration. However, it has also drawn scepticism: some point out that the vendors will simply move a few metres beyond the perimeter of Metro's jurisdiction, where responsibility falls to the Municipal Police. Others note that street food vending in Madrid is nothing new – 25 years ago it was Chinese beer sellers operating without permits – but the current scale is far greater.

The figure that leaves questions open

In one week, just 23 interventions. A figure that seems modest for a problem some consider out of control. The press, such as El Confidencial, has covered the story highlighting the lack of clarity over whether this operation marks the start of sustained action or a one-off response. The health risk remains: without health inspections, the food could have been prepared in unsanitary conditions. Meanwhile, legal traders continue to see everything demanded of them and nothing of others.