Madrid has introduced harsh new emissions measures that may stop a full quarter of the country’s private cars from even entering the capital. Spain has one of the most aged vehicle fleets in the EU, with the average car being 14 years old.
Cars and light gasoline vans manufactured before 2001 and diesel cars and vans from before 2006 are not allowed to enter or circulate in the city unless they were registered to a city resident before 2022 or pay an annual environmental penalty. Permitted cars receive an “environmental label,” in line with regulations applied from January 1.
Penalizing older vehicles primarily impacts poorer Spaniards, while providing municipal Madrid with a steady revenue stream in the form of fines.
Restrictions on cars in the city have been increasing steadily since 2018 when the first low-emissions zone (LEZ) was established in the heart of the city. It has since expanded to cover the entire area within the city limits. The last phase extended the restrictions from the M-30, one of the principal highways which circles the city about halfway between the city center and the city limits, to the outer edge of the city.
Since March 21, 2022, vehicles without an environmental label have been punished for entering wide swaths of the city with a fine of 200 euros. About 2,000 cars per day—or 2.3% of the cars entering these areas—have since fallen into the category that are fined. The city expects the new LEZ to add an initial 700 more vehicles per day to the total fined, with a predicted half of these drivers ‘correcting their behavior‘ within six months. Madrid authorities calculate that their LEZ has removed 400,000 such cars a day from the city’s streets.
To enforce the rules, the city has installed around 500 cameras that can read license plates and emissions labels. The cameras and surveillance system has been paid for by the EU through Next Generation funds. In a national context, approximately 27% of the 25 million passenger vehicles in the country are liable to be punished by the scheme, with LEZ restrictions falling disproportionately on lower income groups.
Between 2010 and 2021, the Spanish capital exceeded the limits of nitrogen dioxide in the air set by the European Air Quality Directive. The city was forced to take harsh measures following a 2019 ruling from the European Court of Justice. In practice, this combination of fining poorer drivers and “correcting” their behavior offers a snapshot of whAT a “Net Zero” Europe will look like.
