Palma to have Low Emission Zone

In any case, thanks to the abstention of the socialist group, the ZBE will come into force from next January to limit the access of vehicles without a badge or with an A badge from the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) to the interior of the Avenidas. In 2027 it is planned that restrictions will be applied to B badges and, from 2030, only ECO or zero-emission vehicles will be able to circulate inside the Avenidas.

The councillor for Mobility, Toni Deudero, said that the project will bring Palma into line with the cities that comply with EU commitments and state regulations. In no case, he pointed out, will it affect the service provided by the health and hospital centres within the delimited area, such as the General Hospital or the Clínica Rotger, among others.

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The deputy spokesman for the PSIB, Xisco Dalmau, said that the ordinance, as other cities have already introduced, is an ‘essential’ and ‘obligatory’ step to reduce emissions caused by vehicle traffic, although he regretted that the project does not go hand in hand with more public transport and an expansion of pedestrian streets and the cycling network.

Vox spokeswoman Gari Durán argued that their rejection, as they had previously stated, was due to their mistrust of the company awarded the contract for the report on which the project is based, which, in their opinion, lacked the necessary experience. He also regretted that the emission measurements were only carried out in a few specific points in the centre of Palma and not in the whole of the municipal district. This, he continued, would have been logical if the real aim was to find out which areas of the city were the most polluted.

For their part, the spokespersons for MÉS per Palma and Unidas Podemos, Miquel Àngel Contreras and Lucía Muñoz, respectively, coincided in defining the project, ironically, as the ‘zone of equal emissions’, considering that it would not help to reduce them. Contreras also criticised the government team for not having taken the opportunity to include measures such as a ban on tourist rental vehicles entering the ZBE or restrictions on lorries delivering goods.