Madrid begins its great campaign against cars without a label in 2023: where they will not be able to circulate

Visiting Madrid will be more complicated from January 1, 2023. With the arrival of the new year, the city activates a new phase of its Madrid 360 Plan, a project designed to progressively remove the most polluting cars from its streets. What implications does it have?

The first and most obvious is that vehicles without a label that are not registered in Madrid will not be able to move on the M-30. The change is substantial because in this 2022 they were already prohibited from accessing the interior of the ring that forms this road but, as of next year, they will not be able to circulate on it either.

It should be taken into account that it is estimated that the M-30 is used for 1.5 million daily journeys, in which more than two million users travel along its 32.5 kilometer route. But, in addition, the M-30 is the fastest way to move around the cityespecially when we should cross its most central space.

The change is relevant because, in practice, it expels unlabeled vehicles that are not registered in Madrid to the ring that makes up the M-40. The other options to move around this area without stepping on the M-30 will force you to wander the streets with the obvious loss of time at traffic lights, crossroads and roundabouts.

For the cars without a label

The Madrid’s relationship with pollution and restrictions on private vehicles is complex. In 2018 Madrid Central came into force under the government of the city of Manuela Carmena (Now Madrid), a project to reduce traffic in the central almond of the city and which was accompanied by the Plan Aa calendar that would expel the most polluting vehicles in the coming years.

In the following elections, José Luis Martínez-Almeida (PP) obtained the mayoralty of the city and annulled Madrid Central, as already had announced during his election campaign. With the threat of a important fine from EuropeMartínez-Almeida had to back down and reactivate the initial plan.

Under the name of Madrid 360 a supposed renewal of Madrid Central and Plan A was announced which, deep down, has not changed the Roadmap of the city, which is as follows:

• 2023: Cars without a label not registered in Madrid are prohibited from driving on the M-30 and inside it
• 2024: Cars without a label not registered in Madrid are prohibited from circulating throughout the municipality of Madrid.
• 2025: Cars without a label are prohibited from circulating throughout the municipality of Madrid, regardless of whether or not they are registered in the city.

The changes come at a particularly sensitive time as far as urban pollution is concerned. The Government intended that on January 1, 2023, cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants would have an LEZ. The truth is that of 149 municipalities, only 20 have projected this type of special protection spaces throughout the year.

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