At the beginning of January 2023, a new road law came into force in Spain regarding the control and emission of exhaust gases and related ZBE zones. This law was preceded by the ratification of the relevant legislation by the Spanish government in 2021, primarily related to climate change.
The new law requires car owners to affix the relevant stickers to their windscreens, which will clearly indicate which category the car falls into and which zones we will not be allowed to enter in future. Stickers can be purchased online or at the post office. Their price is approximately EUR 5.
The provision, which came into force on 28 December last year and became legally binding on 1 January 2023, applies to cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. According to official information, in the province of Alicante it affects: the city of Alicante-337,482 inhabitants, Elche-234,765, Torrevieja-84,667, Orihuela-78,505, Benidorm-70,450, Alcoy-59,354, San Vicente del Raspeig-58,978 and Elda-52,813.
How are our car’s emissions verified and how are the relevant stickers allocated? Nothing is easier. To find out in which category our car falls, simply visit this website. If you want to do it in person at the post office, you need to submit the relevant application form available here.
In both cases, the relevant documents must be presented, among which is the one authorising our car to be driven on Spanish roads. And it is on the basis of this that the category and corresponding colour of the badge will be determined.
The new law has already managed to cause panic among thousands of drivers in the last week of the old year. Completely unnecessarily, although huge queues have led to badges running out at post offices, and it is temporarily impossible to get them online either.
There is nothing to worry about, because the new law, which has just come into force, also gives all drivers as much as 18 months to submit the relevant applications, i.e. until June 2024. Why so much time? Because, yes, the law has come into force, but the cities affected are simply not ready for it.
By the middle of 2024, each of them will have to demarcate the relevant emission zones, prepare appropriate signage for them and install a monitoring system at the entrance to them, so that both the number plates of the cars and the stickers on their windscreens can be read.
In short, the new law has come into force, it is in force, but we have 18 months to comply with it, so for now it is voluntary. However, this does not change the fact that the obligation exists and it is better to get it out of the way than to forget it later.
Source: torreviejatranslators.com
If you have any questions, please contact www.car-registrations-spain.com for assistance.
