Under Spanish climate change law, which has been in force since May last year, all municipalities with 50,000 or more residents are obliged to establish low-emission zones by the first of January, 2023.
In the case of Palma, the town hall is due to complete its sustainable urban mobility plan by the middle of this year. As part of this plan, the low-emission zone has already been identified - the central area within the Avenidas.
Further to the state law, the traffic directorate has established environmental categories for vehicles. These labels, the directorate says, are a way of classifying vehicles according to their energy efficiency, taking into account their environmental impact. They positively discriminate in favour of vehicles that are more respectful of the environment and become an "effective instrument at the service of municipal policies" when it comes to restricting traffic in low-emission zones.
One of the directorate's categories is O or Eco for battery-powered and plug-in electric cars. Other labels refer to the age of the vehicle and whether they are diesel or petrol.
Under its mobility plan, Palma has to decide how to apply the directorate's categories. The town hall is therefore studying limiting access to the centre to electric cars, to diesel cars less than 15 years old and petrol cars that are less than 20 years old.