Although it has been mandatory for 150 municipalities across Spain since the beginning of this year Low Emission Zones (ZBE) to reduce pollution caused by road traffic, but twenty of them started the procedures for creating these urban spaces. This Delay in the implementation of these areas It has led various auto and environmental associations to demand that procedures be expedited.
As of January 1, 2023, All Spanish municipalities, island regions with more than 50,000 inhabitants and those with a population of more than 20,000 who exceed the limit values for regulated pollutants are required by law to enforce Low Emission Zones (ZBE) in their regions.
About 150 Spanish municipalitieswhere a total of 25 million people live and approximately 53% of the country’s population is located. (according to calculations made by different organizations) are those that should implement the ZBE, which includes, among other things, measures such as restricting the access of certain vehicles to these areas, promoting public transport and charging points for electric vehicles.
Specifically, municipalities affected by the need to establish ZBE They are what appear in this link.
Estimates of different organizations in the automotive sector, as reported by Europa Press, indicate that the implementation of these measures Affects nearly four million vehicles without environmental labels Of the approximately 11.5 million cars circulating in Spanish cities that should have the LEZ by 2023.
However, although the affected municipalities should limit these areas, in the vast majority of municipalities The local regulation to dictate the specific operation of the same process has not yet been defined.This means that in practice there will be no big change for drivers from one day to the next.
Operations started in only 20 municipalities
In fact, last week the National Association of Rental Vehicles (Aneval) issued the following warning: only about 20 (about 13%) of the mandatory municipal councils have started to introduce their “measures”.“, for this they urged the consulates to publish the regulations as soon as possible.
He also urged the General Directorate of Traffic to launch the platform “as soon as possible”, which it is working on and should clearly collect all municipal regulations in low-emission areas. This DGT platform should make it easy for services used as GPS by drivers, for example, to warn of current restrictions.
Royal decree to issue ZBEs
At the last Council of Ministers meeting held this year Royal Decree regulating low emission zones approved and establishes homogeneous minimum requirements that affected municipalities must comply.
Therefore, LEZs can take permanent or temporary measures, such as vehicle access, circulation and parking restrictions, to improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to the classification of vehicles according to their emission levels, in accordance with the provisions of the current General Regulation. Vehicle Regulation.
Regarding climate change mitigation targets, the Royal Decree states: municipalities will need to set measurable emission reduction targets for 2030 and that they are aligned with the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan to reduce the use of private motor vehicles compared to other modes of transport.
If pollution limits are met, the regulation provides exceptional access to vehicles that pollute the environment for justifiable reasons, such as vehicles that provide essential public services such as emergency services or garbage collection, among others.
On the other hand, there are also estimates that 5% of vehicle purchases in Spain are already due to the entry into force of the ZBE in 2023.
This figure is still lower than the percentage of customers who buy cars out of necessity (80%) and close to those who buy cars on a whim or ‘enthusiasm’, they make up 15% of the market, this figure is below 100. Previous years due to inflationary effect.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain’s hardest hit city
According to an analysis by Sumauto at the end of last October, Canary Islands register highest percentage of cars without tags in Spain. In fact, the Canary Islands cities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (44.1%), Arrecife (43.7%), San Cristóbal de La Laguna (43.4%) and Arona (41.7%) have a higher percentage of self-driving cars. are cities. environmental badge.
These are followed by the Galician city of Ourense (41.7%) and the Castile-Leon cities Ponferrada and León with 39.6% of such cars. At the opposite pole are Alcobendas (9.9%), Boadilla del Monte (11.6%) and Rivas Vaciamadrid (18.3%), all located in the Community of Madrid.
……
Contact details of the environment department: [email protected]