As a growing number of cities in Spain roll out low-emission zones, it’s emerged that the drivers of foreign-registered vehicles are not receiving the €200 fines for entering these areas without authorisation.
By 2026, all municipalities of more than 50,000 inhabitants in Spain should have implemented low-emission zones for motor vehicles.
Low-emission zones (Zona de Bajas Emisiones or ZBEs in Spanish) aim to help reduce air pollution in Spain’s urban areas by 2050, in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement, as well as to make sure vehicles are cleaner and more sustainable.
Any driver entering these city centre areas with a polluting vehicle will be sent a fine, or so it should be in theory.
One of the unforeseen issues that has emerged is the high number of foreign vehicles entering the country’s low-emission zones without authorisation, with city councils not able to do anything to properly identify the vehicles.
The Andalusian city of Málaga has been suffering from this issue in particular, bringing the problem to light.
Unauthorised vehicles are typically fined €200 for entering Málaga’s low-emission zone (ZBE in Spanish), but foreigners who have cars registered in other countries are getting away with not paying as the drivers can’t be located by Spanish authorities to have the fines sent to them.
This is the case in cities all over Spain, where city councils are unable to effectively fine vehicles registered overseas who violate ZBE rules.
READ ALSO: Can I get a low-emissions sticker for my car if I’m visiting Spain?
As a result, the Málaga branch of Spain’s opposition party the Partido Popular (PP) has demanded legal changes from the central government, to create greater equality between Spanish-registered and foreign drivers.
According to the PP, City Councils do have the legal framework and technical resources to detect violations of this kind, regardless of where the vehicle is from.
Essentially, the ZBEs mean that only vehicles with certain environmental labels can enter and circulate around many urban centres in Spain, in a bid to reduce pollution levels from older vehicles.
Spain’s General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) has confirmed that it’s not possible to issue environmental stickers to vehicles with foreign licence plates in Spain.
READ ALSO: Do tourists have to pay Spanish traffic fines?
Advertisement
This is due to EU Directive 2015/413, which regulates the exchange of information between countries and only allows data sharing for a limited range of offences, which does not include unauthorised access to ZBEs.
The EU has already approved a new directive, 2024/3237, however, which extends the exchange of information to infringements related to low emission zones.
The PP has warned though that this directive will not be effective until the Spanish government enters into national law, which could take until July 2027.
That means that for the next year and half, Málaga and other cities across Spain will still have to deal with this problem, weakening the point of the ZBEs and creating disadvantages for Spanish-registered vehicles.
Advertisement
Even in cases where foreign-registered vehicles can be penalised for other traffic offences such as speeding or parking in the wrong place, there is also an issue with the fines reaching them.
Payments can only be made voluntarily, as there is no possibility of enforcing it if the offender does not live in Spain.
In Madrid for example, estimates suggest that as many as 80 percent of foreigners fined there never pay their traffic fines. That means tens of thousands of fines go unpaid each year, and that the authorities miss out on several million Euros in extra revenue.
According to Spain’s DGT, the French, Portuguese and Germans are the ones who commit the most traffic offences in Spain, usually for speeding. But getting them to actually pay their fines once they’ve left the country has proven difficult.
