Transport acts against Logroño for eliminating bike lanes and investigates 14 more cities

“The Portugal Avenue lane is going to be removed […] so that the street once again has the logic of circulation.” In July 2023, the deputy mayor of Logroño (PP), Celia Sanz, thus offered an example of the actions of several right-wing councils, which debuted that year by eliminating bike and bus lanes to give more space to the car. A month later, the infrastructure—put in place only half a year earlier—was destroyed. Now, the Ministry of Transport has sent a resolution to the Logroño City Council – to which EL PAÍS has had access – to reject these changes and warn it that if it does not build the planned lanes it will have to return the European subsidy of 6.5 million received. in advance for actions in favor of sustainable mobility. Óscar Puente’s department is investigating 14 other cities for these reasons. “The non-compliant municipalities will have to return the money and may also face a penalty of up to three times the amount of the subsidy,” the Secretary General of Sustainable Mobility, Álvaro Fernández Heredia, explains to EL PAÍS.

The Spanish Executive mobilized 1.5 billion euros from European Next Generation funds in two calls (2022 and 2023) to promote the development of sustainable urban mobility with bike lanes, pedestrianization, low-emission zones or bus lanes. Any modification of these projects requires prior approval from the Ministry of Transportsomething that, in many cases, has not happened.

In fact, Logroño eliminated the infrastructure of Portugal Avenue in August, built with tactical urbanism and which he intended to consolidate with European funds. Later, in several petitions – from September 2023 to February 2024 – he requested to modify the East-West Cycle Axis. Despite not receiving a response from the ministry, the City Council destroyed the protected bike lane to make more room for cars and replaced it with a shared space between cars and bicycles. In addition, it has asked not to build the extension of the A-13 bridge to accommodate a cycling and pedestrian connection with the excuse that another project of the Government of La Rioja provides access from the other end of the city. In addition, it wants to stop carrying out the single platform action – putting the road and sidewalk at the same level – on Sagasta Street.

The ministry’s technicians understand that Logroño is asking to make three very far-reaching modifications, “which respond to no objective technical criteria, nor to unexpected actions, but rather to a change in municipal criteria, which is not admissible.” As an example, they highlight the destruction of the central part of the East-West Cycle Axis: “They talk about the loading and unloading of a theater, which existed before, and the installation of some underground containers that the City Council itself put in later. None of them are circumstances that arise once the project is approved.”

Julio Romero, spokesperson for Logroño by bike, considers that these actions are carried out out of “political revenge” by the municipal team: “We had a technical model like that of Oslo or Copenhagen, made with little money, and it is being changed for another that represents 40 years of regression in cycling mobility. Actions paid for with European funds are being eliminated, such as the cycling priority at the Dutch roundabout [un tipo de infraestructura en el que las bicis tienen prioridad], and others are also being removed. The result is that many people have stopped using the bike, especially kids to go to school.”

Reactionary policies against sustainable mobility

David Lois, professor of Social Psychology and mobility expert, says: “After the 2023 municipal elections, the agenda of some municipalities seems to have a single point: dismantling policies aimed at making active mobility, trips by public transport or the improvement of urban space. The actions are carried out without any type of evidence, beyond topics such as alleged mistreatment of drivers.” In his opinion, “they are reactionary policies that undermine improvements in children’s autonomy, in the walkability of the elderly or in the creation of environments where pedaling is not stressful.” In this sense, “Logroño has been one of the most active cities in carrying out regressive measures.”

The Logroño City Council now has five days to respond to the request with its allegations. When it does, Transport will issue the final resolution. If at the end of the year the actions that obtained European funds are not completed as promised, the local government will be ordered to return the amounts received.

It is not the only case. At the end of April, Óscar Puente’s department sent a similar document to Murcia to demand that it carry out the committed actions regarding pedestrianization and bicycle lanes; The City Council indicated that several are underway, although others remain unrealized. Meanwhile, Transport confirms that it is investigating 14 more cities for similar actions that represent regressions in sustainable mobility. In fact, Puente was mayor of Valladolid in the previous legislature, when he built several bike lanes that his successor, Jesús Julio Carnero, later eliminated.

“From the ministry we want to be vigilant so that the objectives of these funds, which aim to promote sustainable mobility, are not distorted and that the municipalities carry out the actions to which they committed. We can be flexible when there are unexpected circumstances, but not when there are unjustified changes in political criteria,” says Fernández Heredia, responsible for Sustainable Mobility at the Ministry of Transport. “When it is found that they have not carried them out, they must return the full subsidized amount. But in addition, they may
face sanctions contemplated in the law, which can entail two and up to three times the amount to be reimbursed,” he adds.

For later, the review of the aid granted to build low-emission zones (ZBE), which is enormously delayed in Spain despite already being mandatory, remains. “When the time comes to justify this aid, we will be vigilant that these actions have been used to establish an effective ZBE. The beneficiary mayors signed a responsible declaration committing that at the end of the period [en muchos casos, a final de 2024] they would be working, and would work for the next five years. If they do not comply, they will have to return the money,” says Fernández Heredia. Meanwhile, the Ombudsman, who launched an ex officio action due to the delay in the implementation of low emissions zones, confirms that there is still no news in his investigation.

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