Spain's environmental zones on the brink of extinction? Conservatives declare war on driving bans
The new local governments are massively opposing the introduction of the new environmental zones. In many places they want to abolish the low emission zones or reduce them to an absolute minimum. Only 14 out of 149 cities meet the legal requirements. Cars seem to be on the rise again in the popular holiday destination.
All EU citizens have a right to clean air. But in Spain, this right is being trampled on in many places. In Spain, where the conservative People's Party (PP) recently came to power, partly with the support of the right-wing Vox Party, many plans for environmental zones are already on hold.
The largest and best-known low emission zone in Spain is in Barcelona and covered most of the city. Spanish vehicles need the Distintivo Ambiental here, i.e. a sticker on the windscreen, to be allowed to enter. Foreign vehicles need a registration. In other cities, there are also temporary environmental zones that can be activated when the air is bad.
In 2021, the social democratic PSOE had passed several laws for climate- and environmentally-friendly mobility. Thus, about 150 environmental zones would now have to be created, as all cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants need one in order to guarantee the right to clean air. Currently, not even 10% of cities comply with this law.
In Valladolid, where one of the temporary low emission zones exists, the new government now wants to reduce the size of the low emission zone to a minimum. Plans for new cycle paths are also being scrapped. In Gijón in the north of the Iberian peninsula, the planned environmental zone will be reduced to such an extent that it will virtually only include the already car-free centre. The cities of Castellón and Lorca strictly reject the introduction of an environmental zone.
At the national level, there is currently no plan for sustainable mobility either. After the early elections in July this year, the conservative PP had also gained a majority there, but will have difficulties forming a government. The uncertainty at the national level gives local governments time. Some motorists will be pleased. But hardly anyone likes to sit between hot asphalt and sheet metal and breathe smog on holiday.