The start of the new year means that low emissions zones are now obligatory in Spain and the owners of cars that don’t have an environmental sticker – Zero, Eco, B or C, will not be able to drive in built-up areas in Spanish cities with more than 50k population.
Also, towns and cities with 30k inhabitants are obliged to set up a ZBE area if their pollution levels don’t meet European standards.
In total, around 150 cities in Spain are affected by this new measure.
This is a central government mandate based on EU requirements.
Basically, if you have a diesel engine car older than the year 2006 and a petrol engine car older than the year 2000, you are now limited to where you can drive.
The government’s idea is to force old cars off the road.
As we know, all combustion engine cars will cease to be sold after 2035 in Spain. After that date you will only be able to buy a zero emissions vehicle.
The idea that you could buy a fuel-engine car and drive it until it bit the dust is a thing of the past in Spain and other EU countries.
Classic cars
However, cars that have been classified as a classic, vehículo histórico in Spanish, have been given the ok from Spain’s traffic directorate the DGT, but with conditions.
As we can read here “This exemption from the prohibitions would apply to vehicles registered as historic vehicles, and would be applicable to both cars and motorbikes. The regulation itself reflects the “occasional use and not as a means of everyday transport” that is assumed for a vehicle that has been registered as historic.”
Read the full article in Spanish here
So you can still drive your classic in city centres but only for occasional use, i.e. at weekends.
At the end of the video below I explain the situation.
More news from Spain here
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