Madrid City Council bans thousands of cars from entering Madrid Centro

When the new bans on cars in Madrid Centro come into force, diesel vehicles registered before 2006 and petrol vehicles registered before 2000 will not be allowed access.

The Governing Council of Madrid, chaired by Manuela Carmena, gave initial approval to its new battery of bans that will make it almost impossible for thousands of cars to circulate in Madrid Centro. Only zero-emission vehicles and those bearing the ECO label from the DGT are exempt. The maximum speed is also being reduced on certain roads, and efforts are being made to encourage the use of bicycles.

The bans on cars in Madrid Centro

Under the name Sustainable Mobility Ordinance, the Governing Board of Ahora Madrid has given initial approval to the new mobility regulations for the Spanish capital. It is planned that they will come into force in November 2018, and they bring with them an increase in the restrictions on vehicles within the new Residential Priority Area of Centro.

The main novelty of the regulations is that a large part of the cars in the Madrid mobile car park will not be able to access the central area of the region. In fact, they will not be able to circulate or park in this new APR in the centre. And the vehicles affected are all diesel vehicles registered before 2006 and petrol vehicles registered before 2000.

Meanwhile, vehicles registered after these dates and bearing B (yellow) and C (green) labels will only be able to enter in order to park in a public or private car park. The bans on cars in Madrid Centro also affect ECO-label vehicles (hybrids, plug-ins, LNG, CNG and LPG).

Find out here whether your car can enter Madrid Centro. If it is banned, now may be the time to consider buying an ECO car or converting the one you already have by installing an LPG kit in the car.

Thousands of cars affected

These new bans on cars in Madrid Centro will, as one might imagine, affect thousands upon thousands of users. The cars that could previously access the central area, and that from November will be banned, account for 38% of the vehicle fleet in the Madrid region (more than 1.5 million vehicles). Although the City Council maintains that the new regulations will only affect 13% of the drivers who actually circulate in the new restricted area.

The new regulations will come into force next November, but there will be a three-month grace period regarding fines, and the corresponding penalties will not begin to be imposed until February 2019. In addition, there will be exceptions depending on the label and the use of certain vehicles (provision of basic services, taxis, drivers with a previously contracted service, motorcycles and mopeds).

New speed limit and cycling mobility

Another of the novelties prepared by Madrid City Council is the new speed limit in some areas of the capital. Thus, it is proposed to limit speed to 30 km/h on streets with one lane per direction or a single lane, and to 20 km/h in single-platform zones. Likewise, parking motorcycles on pavements will be prohibited in “pedestrian priority zones”.

The city council maintains that the new regulations seek to improve road safety and benefit pedestrians. In addition, cycling mobility will also be promoted. And with the new Sustainable Mobility Ordinance, bicycles will be allowed to travel in the opposite direction on residential streets and bike lanes, as well as turn right at a red light provided the manoeuvre is signposted.