Climbdown over city’s low emissions zone
Bid for clean air watered down even though council has received a €15 million EU grant for their plan
AFTER announcing with great fanfare on January 2 last year that their low emissions zone would create a ‘new Alicante’ which would be functioning this month, the ruling Partido Popular (PP) on the city council has caved in to the demands of their far-right partners in government, Vox – and agreed not to fine motorists who fail to adhere to the new regulations.
In a press statement issued a year ago, city hall admitted that government legislation meant the zone – known by the acronym ZBE in Spanish – had to be in place ‘before 2023’ for municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants.
They also had to introduce measures to facilitate journeys by bicycle, on foot and sustainable modes of transport – amongst a host of other environmentally-friendly schemes – but almost none of them have been done.
The city council had boasted a year ago that they were ‘committed to fighting against climate change’ and their ZBE would help them to reduce atmospheric pollution.
They noted that the zones are designed to restrict access to ‘certain vehicles’ due to the emissions they expel, improving air quality – with only ‘vehicles which comply with the highest standards’ permitted to enter.
It would be a ‘large zone inside the city’, inside the ring of the Gran Vía, measuring some 7.49 square kilometres, which is 19.4 % of the municipality.
The council estimated that
the 157,498 inhabitants of the ZBE have around 100,000 vehicles.
The zone would run on a computerised ‘integrated traffic management system’ which would allow them to plan and check on atmospheric and noise pollution.
According to the press statement from January 2023, the infrastructure set up to manage the system would allow them to ‘establish the rules’ and impose fines for motorists who break them.
Regional media reported last year that fines would be imposed for vehicles circulating ‘without the correct sticker from the DGT’.
However, this week – in order to win support for his annual council budget – PP mayor Luis Barcala ceded to the demands from Vox not to levy fines over the ZBE.
According to a statement from city hall on Tuesday, they have agreed to draw up a local bylaw ‘in which fining procedures are not contemplated’.
They noted that the ZBE would ‘comply with the law’ but it would be applied ‘without restricting the fundamental rights of Alicante residents’.
The local Socialist party (PSOE) has slammed the deal and said the mayor has taken the side of climate change deniers in order to pass his budget.
They promised to fight the proposals which they claim will not comply with EU law.
Compromís party spokesman Rafa Mas claimed that it ‘could lead to fines and penalties from Europe’.
“This returns our city to the last century,” he said.
The United Left said the mayor had put political interests before the health of the people. They noted that the city council might have to give back the €15 million received to implement the low emissions plan.