All the details of the future Valencia Low Emissions Zone are now known. The Local Government Board of the City Council has approved the draft of the Ordinance that will regulate vehicle traffic in the city center, which It will be applied progressively until 2028 and establishes a one-year moratorium for the most polluting vehicles registered in the municipalities affected by the DANA last October.
Once the draft regulations have been approved, the María José Català City Council has opened the phase for the presentation of amendments by the political groups. Subsequently, there will be the initial approval of the provision by the Plenary following the opinion of the competent information commission, the public exhibition process and, finally, the plenary agreement of final approval and publication in the BOP.
The City Council explains in a statement that, since the presentation of the first text, two events have occurred that “have forced us to reformulate the calendar for the phased implementation of the restrictions.” On the one hand there is the impact of DANA, which has led to “the loss of thousands of private vehicles” and, on the other hand, the publication by the State on December 24, 2024 of a series of economic aid in matters of public transport that “impose, on the requesting local entities, the entry into operation of their low-emission zones during 2025”.
For these reasons, since the entry into force of the regulations until November 30, 2025, the City Council will launch an informative phase where advance notice will be given to vehicles affected by the restrictions and On December 1, 2025, the sanctioning phase will begin, that will affect the most polluting vehicles registered outside the province of Valencia. This restriction will remain in place throughout 2026.
In addition to the above, it will apply a moratorium on the start of the sanctioning regimevalid until December 31, 2027, to the most polluting vehicles affected by the DANA of October 29; and valid until December 31, 2028, to the most polluting cars registered in the districts of the municipality of Valencia included in the Annex of the indicated Decree.
What streets will be in the ZBE?
The ordinance establishes a single Low Emissions Zone, called ‘Valencia ZBE’, which covers an area of 27.8 kilometers and It is delimited by Ronda Norte, Avenida de los Naranjos, Calle Serrería and Bulevar Sur..
The area of Ciutat Vella Nord which was initially proposed as a ZBE with its own particularities, the ‘Ciutat Vella Low Emissions Zone of Special Sensitivity’, will continue to be regulated as a Residential Priority Area (APR Ciutat Vella Nord), the council has detailed. This will maintain the same restrictions as currently such as APR and the new ones for València ZBE will be added that will also apply to the rest of the city.
“Although currently the city’s air quality complies with the limits legally established in Royal Decree 102/2011, with the implementation of the low emissions zone we seek to improve the starting situation,” says the City Council.
Specifically, the statement continues, the objective is to significantly reduce the levels of air pollution corresponding to nitrogen dioxide (NO2), suspended particles smaller than 10 microns (PM10) and suspended particles smaller than 2.5 microns (PM2.5). . The evaluation of this objective will be carried out with “constant monitoring” of air quality by the City Council.
This is how the ZBE will be implemented
The ZBE will be implemented progressively and will affect passenger cars, motorcycles and mopeds with label Aaccording to the DGT’s catalog of environmental labels, with some exceptions. Vehicles associated with economic activities (SMEs, self-employed…) will be excluded from the restrictions, in order to protect the economic and social interests of the city.
Vehicles used by PMR parking card holders will also not have any obligation. (for people with reduced mobility), those of large families or those with children under three years of age, those in which pregnant women or people with temporarily reduced mobility travel or emergency vehicles, essential services and those considered historic, although the latter will have the limitation 96 annual accesses.
Likewise, for those vehicles considered to be more polluting and that do not meet the criteria to be exempted, the ordinance contemplates a right of 48 annual accesses to the Low Emissions Zone.
Promotion of sustainable mobility
The implementation of restrictions on vehicle traffic will be accompanied by a series of measures from the Valencia City Council to promote change towards the use of more sustainable forms of transport, improving accessibility, electromobility, promoting sustainable practices in the urban distribution of goods and the reinforcement of road safety, as well as compensatory measures to reduce the economic impact on the affected people.
Among other things, Mobility plans to approve a temporary free EMT title for people registered in Valencia and owners of vehicles affected by the restrictions who scrap it and do not acquire another vehicle during the validity of the title. It is also planned to allow daytime access to the city for zero-emission trucks of up to 18 tons, as long as they do not exceed 8 meters in total length, thus updating the current Mobility Ordinance.
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