Large families in Madrid had been denouncing for months a municipal criterion that, in their opinion, directly harmed them in access to public infant schools. In the admission processes, the number of children is a key element to obtain points, but the City Council was not counting conceived and yet unborn children, even when the pregnancy was medically accredited.
This administrative practice, applied in the municipal scoring systems, reduced the points of families expecting a new child and placed them at a disadvantage compared to other applicants. The Association of Large Families of Madrid (AFNM) decided to challenge the measure in court, considering that it violated current regulations and the principle of equality.
According to Europa Press on February 11, the Juzgado de lo Contencioso-Administrativo nº 22 has partially upheld the appeal filed by the association and has ruled in favor of the families on an essential point: the conceived child must be counted for favorable purposes in the admission processes.
The conceived must be considered born for favorable purposes
The AFNM lawyer, Íñigo Martínez de Artola Silva, has explained that the ruling considers the exclusion of conceived and unborn children from the scoring system to be improper. The judgment recalls that the law states that the conceived «shall be considered born for all favorable purposes,» and concludes that not counting them violates the principle of equality and the constitutional protection of the family.
Consequently, the court recognizes the right of large families to have the conceived child taken into account in the scoring for access to municipal infant schools.
A criterion that reduced points and harmed families
The exclusion had immediate practical effects: by not adding that child to the count, families obtained fewer points and could be left out of the admission process or relegated to lower positions on the lists.
From the association’s perspective, this was not a mere technical adjustment, but a decision that directly affected real families and their right to receive treatment in accordance with current regulations.
They demand rectification from the City Council
After the resolution became known, the Association of Large Families of Madrid has celebrated the judicial ruling and has urged the City Council to immediately rectify the scoring systems to avoid new situations that they consider discriminatory.
The sentence not only requires reviewing the criterion applied until now, but also sets a relevant precedent on the legal consideration of the conceived child in the field of municipal family policies.