Vehicles which pollute the most have been unable to access the low emission zone (LEZ) delimited by the city’s ring roads (Rondes) since 2020. The area covers over 95 square kilometres and circulation restrictions apply to the most pollutant vehicles with the aim of protecting the atmosphere, people’s health and the environment.

The LEZ covers the entire municipality of Barcelona (except for Zona Franca and the neighbourhood of Vallvidrera, el Tibidabo i les Planes), the municipality of Hospitalet de Llobregat and part of the municipalities of Cornellà de Llobregat, Esplugues de Llobregat and Sant Adrià de Besòs.

Users can keep up with all the information relating to the Barcelona Ring Roads LEZ on the project’s website at zbe.barcelona, which uses the city domain to provide details and the latest news on this programme. The site includes information such as which vehicles are affected by the restrictions, details on the regulations, applying for daily authorisations for the most pollutant vehicles to circulate and information on what is being done in terms of sustainable mobility.

Reduction in journeys by vehicles that pollute the most

Since the low emission zone was announced, the most pollutant vehicles have been replaced. These are vehicles which are not suitable to be issued with an environmental rating badge from the Directorate General for Traffic (DGT). In three years, journeys made by cars and motorbikes which pollute the most have dropped, with 550,000 fewer journeys.

At the same time, between the first half of 2020 and February 2021, the volume of vehicles circulating within the LEZ without the environmental badge from the DGT fell from between 9 and 10% to between 3.5 and 4.5%.

Moratorium for vans, lorries and coaches being replaced

The circulation of vehicles without the DGT badge, namely lorries and small coaches (N2, N3 and M2) affected by the end of the moratorium on 31 December, is currently allowed as long as vehicle owners sign a declaration of their intention to acquire a new vehicle. This declaration involves a commitment to renew the vehicle by 30 June 2022. With the moratoriums now over, the hope is that the volume of vehicles circulating in the Ring Roads LEZ without the DGT environmental badge will drop to below 1%.

Vehicles with the following badges can continue to circulate in the LEZ with no restrictions from working Mondays to Fridays this year, between 7 am and 8 pm:

• Yellow badge (B)
• Green badge (C)
• Eco badge (Eco)
• 0 badge (Zero emissions)