As of January 1, 2023, all Spanish municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, island territories and those with a population of more than 20,000 people and exceeding the limit values for regulated pollutants will have to apply low emission zones (ZBE) in their territories
Writing / EP
Tuesday, January 3, 2023
(ZBE) in their territories. Around 150 Spanish municipalities, in which a total of 25 million people live and around 53% of the national population (according to calculations by different organizations), are the ones that must implement LEZs, which implies measures such as restricting access to certain vehicles to those areas, promoting collective transport and charging points for electric vehicles, among other issues.
Estimates from different organizations in the automotive sector indicate that the implementation of these measures will affect almost four million vehicles without an environmental label out of the around 11.5 million cars that circulate in Spanish cities that are required to have an LEZ in 2023.
However, although the affected municipalities have to delimit these areas, in the vast majority of town councils the local regulation that will govern their specific operation is not yet defined, which means that in practice there will not be a drastic change for drivers from one day to the next.
In fact, last week the National Business Association of Rental Vehicles (Aneval) warned that only around 20 of the obligated municipalities (around 13%) have “started the presentation of their measures”, for which they have urged to the consistories to publish the regulations as soon as possible.
He also urged the General Directorate of Traffic to launch “as soon as possible” the platform on which it is working and which must openly collect all municipal ordinances in low-emission areas. This DGT platform should make it easier, for example, for the services used as GPS by drivers to warn of current restrictions.
general regulation
In the last Council of Ministers held this year, the Royal Decree that regulates low emission zones was approved and it establishes the minimum homogeneous requirements that the affected municipalities will have to comply with.
Thus, the LEZs may establish continuous or temporary measures such as vehicle access, circulation and parking restrictions to improve air quality and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, according to the classification of vehicles by their level of emissions. in accordance with the provisions of the current General Vehicle Regulations.
With respect to the climate change mitigation objectives, the Royal Decree indicates that the municipalities will have to define quantifiable emission reduction objectives for 2030 and that they are consistent with the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan for the reduction of the use of private vehicles. motor compared to other modes of transport.
In the event that the pollution limits are met, the regulation allows exceptional access for polluting vehicles for justified reasons, such as those that provide basic public services, among others, emergency services or garbage collection.
Market impact
On the other hand, there are also estimates that indicate that 5% of vehicle purchases in Spain are already motivated by the entry into force of the ZBE in 2023.
This figure is still lower than the percentage of customers who buy a vehicle out of necessity (80%), and close to those who buy a car out of aspiration or “whim”, these being 15% of the market, a figure less than years previous ones due to the inflationary effect.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the most affected city in Spain
According to a Sumauto analysis carried out at the end of last October, the Canary Islands register the highest percentage of cars without a label 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%), are the cities with a higher percentage of vehicles without an environmental badge.
They are followed by the Galician city of Ourense (41.7%), and the Castilian-Leonese cities of Ponferrada and León, both with 39.6% of cars in this situation. 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
