More fines in Madrid Central

A court order reactivates the fines in Madrid Central

On Friday we were heading into the weekend with the news that Court No. 24 of Administrative Litigation in Madrid had intervened in the controversial issue that is the flagship of the new local government of Madrid City Council: the fines in Madrid Central.

The judge who accepted for processing an appeal filed by the associations Ecologistas en Acción and Greenpeace, representing the Platform for the Defence of Madrid Central, put a halt to the moratorium or freeze on penalties for entering Madrid Central that the new local government team, led by José Luis Martínez-Almedia, had enacted from 1 July to 30 September for those vehicles lacking the labels or requirements that exempt them from being fined, through an emergency precautionary measure.

Likewise, the order urged the Madrid council to file a written appeal within a maximum of three days, something that did not happen and, therefore, the same edict stated that the court’s decision would be accepted and complied with, namely to reactivate the fines in Madrid Central.

The judge’s ruling was based and argued on the data recorded in the days since the restricted zone was reopened to traffic or, at least, the suspension of the fines in Madrid Central, during which the concentration of gases would have increased, thus losing its status as a measure in favour of environmental conservation and of the fight to improve air quality.

Fines, moratoriums, reactivation and controversy

Far from this measure meaning a return to normality or, at least, legal stability, over this weekend and according to Europa Press, Court No. 7 of Administrative Litigation records that the appeal is not admissible filed by the Madrid socialist group against the suspension of the fines in Madrid Central.

This decision means that, according to the second judge of that court, who authored the order, it refuses to process the measures requested by the opposition group, because it understands that the conditions established by case law for ordering the removal of penalties for driving on the restricted streets within the area are not met.

Furthermore, the City Council itself argued that last Thursday, one day before the Court of Administrative Litigation No. 24 of Madrid accepted the case for processing, which has allowed the fines for entering the so-called central almond to be reactivated, it stated that it had another court order rejecting the emergency precautionary measure against freezing the fines for driving in the streets of Madrid Central.

Be that as it may, far from being a quiet summer in terms of road traffic in Madrid, a season of political and judicial storms is looming over the fines in Madrid Central.