This measure, stemming from a judgment by the Contentious-Administrative Court number 22 of Madrid issued on February 11, 2026, rectifies the exclusion of pregnancies in the allocation of points for large families. The judicial resolution states that the Council could not omit the unborn from the criteria when their recognition benefits the family.
The new wording also provides greater legal certainty, by obliging the municipal administration to accept the official medical certificate of pregnancy as sufficient documentation to justify this circumstance.
As a result of this ruling, the Official Gazette of the Madrid City Council has published new text specifying that, for the purpose of large family status, both born and unborn children will be taken into account. This change directly impacts the admission process for municipal nursery schools, allowing families with two children expecting a third, or in similar situations, to obtain the two additional points for large family status, provided they prove the pregnancy with the relevant documentation.
The Association of Large Families of Madrid has stated that this modification corrects a situation that disadvantaged growing families and imposed restrictive criteria on access to public places. The entity believes that the new regulation offers greater legal certainty, requiring the municipal administration to accept an official medical certificate of pregnancy as valid proof.
The ruling coincides with the opening of the application period for the next academic year. Therefore, the association has urged pregnant families to actively claim these points and assert the new criterion recognized judicially. The new criteria explicitly incorporates the consideration of “Family recognized as a large family [...] for which purpose both born and unborn children will be taken into account (2 points),” integrating the unborn into the municipal nursery school scoring system for the first time.
This judgment opens a new scenario for families who, until now, could not benefit from these points until the actual birth of the child. In practice, this meant competing in the admission process without their real family situation being reflected in the criteria at the time of application. The Association of Large Families of Madrid interprets that this modification removes a bureaucratic barrier at a crucial time for work-life balance, ensuring that family growth is a support and not an administrative obstacle to accessing public places.
