The Madrid City Council will implement a 12-month information period, from January 1 to December 31, 2025, to notify citizens about the prohibition of circulation in the capital of vehicles without an environmental label (category A) registered in the city.
The restriction of access to Madrid ZBE (Low Emissions Zone), which covers the entire capital, will affect cars, motorcycles and goods vehicles without an environmental label registered in Madrid or registered in the Mechanical Traction Vehicle Tax (IVTM). Although the measure will enter into force on January 1, 2025, during the first year no sanctions will be applied, but rather informative notifications will be sent.
Thus, the owners of the affected vehicles will receive a letter at their home if the cameras detect an infraction between 00:00 hours on January 1 and 23:59 hours on December 31, 2025. There will be no penalty since these Notifications will be purely informative.
The delegate of Urban Planning, Environment and Mobility, Borja Carabantecommunicated the measure in a press conference after the Government Board, where he also detailed some exceptions for type A vehicles that will be able to access the city.
The mayor of the capital, José Luis Martínez-Almeidahad already anticipated the existence of a report that Carabant would present at the Governing Board. This report evaluates the environmental situation in Madrid and the impact of the ban on the circulation of vehicles without an environmental label. In addition, the document considers possible exceptions if these are compatible with improving air quality in the city.
As we all know, Madrid is one of the main cities in Spain that has implemented greater mobility restrictions with the aim of improving air quality. These measures, although they were sometimes very unpopular for limiting the use of vehicles, have managed to reduce the average number of suspended particles in the capital.
Among the initiatives adopted, and which are now collapsing, stood out the prohibition of circulation for vehicles without an environmental label, which have restricted access to roads such as the M-30 and the M-40, under penalty of fines of up to 200 euros. As it could not be otherwise, this regulation generated a lot of controversy and protests, at the time, especially among groups that defend the continued use of these cars.
But, as we are telling you, there are going to be changes for owners of vehicles without a DGT label, such as gasoline vehicles registered before January 1, 2001 and diesel vehicles before 2006. This has been stated by the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida: “November’s data have been the best in history in terms of air quality. We have broken a new historical record, which confirms that pollution continues to decrease in Madrid”.
The mayor also mentioned the possibility of relaxing the restrictions planned for 2025: “Next year, the implementation of low-emission zones for vehicles without an environmental label of residents in Madrid was scheduled. Based on the data, a proposal will be presented to the Government Board to evaluate whether the circulation of certain vehicles can be allowed. Furthermore, he stressed the importance of balancing economic development and quality of life: “If we have achieved the best air quality records, we must carefully analyze the consequences of strictly applying this measure.””.
With this measure, the Madrid City Council seeks to promote the renewal of the vehicle fleet, encouraging owners of category A vehicles (gasoline registered before 2000 and diesel before 2006) to replace them with models that have an environmental label from the DGT.
Fines for non-registered vehicles without an environmental label
Vehicles without a label that are not registered in the register or in the Mechanical Traction Vehicle Tax (IVTM) of Madrid will not have this notice period.
If they access the ZBE without complying with any of the exceptions contemplated by the City Council, they will be directly sanctioned with a fine of 200 euros.
Exceptions to restricted access
The City Council has detailed new exceptions for access to ZBEs, grouped into three main categories:
- Access for medical reasons: Owners or family members who need to travel to medical or hospital centers to receive health treatments.
- Self-employed and small businesses: Self-employed persons aged 59 (2025) or sole proprietorships whose fleet is made up of at least 50% of vehicles without an environmental label weighing more than 3.5 tons.
- Delays in the delivery of new vehicles: People who have purchased a new low-emission car but, due to manufacturing delays, have not yet received it.
- Common exemptions for historic vehicles and those intended for the transport of people with reduced mobility (PMR).
