Palma City Council has lifted the moratorium on fines in the Low Emission Zone (LEZ), meaning that vehicles with an A label will be fined for entering the LEZ from 1 July. This was announced by the Councillor for Mobility, Toni Deudero, at a press conference on Wednesday, in which he explained that the decision to lift the moratorium, which was due to end at the end of this year, was taken after it was found that vehicles with an A label accounted for 1.8 per cent of those circulating in the zone in the first six months of the year.
‘We understand that the people of Palma and residents of Mallorca were already well aware that the ZBE was in force and, consequently, the six-month awareness period was sufficient,’ he explained. Deudero also pointed out that the Spanish government is preparing a royal decree that aims precisely to put an end to non-punitive periods and, in order to get ahead of this, the City Council has decided to start the penalty period this July.
Vehicles with an A label will not be allowed to enter the ZBE from 1 July. On the other hand, vehicles with B, C, ECO and 0 Emission labels and all motorcycles will be able to enter without restrictions. The fines are set at 200 euros. The first phase of penalties in the ZBE, which targets vehicles with an A sticker, has been in place since 1 January and will continue until 31 December 2026. From 1 January 2027 until 2030, vehicles with a B sticker will be included, and from 2030 onwards, access will also be restricted to vehicles with a sticker.
The councillor pointed out that it is not necessary to display the sticker on the vehicle to enter the ZBE, although it is recommended, as the system checks the registration number. The ordinance regulating the ZBE establishes a health itinerary in which all users of public and private facilities will be allowed access regardless of their vehicle's sticker. This is the area surrounding the General Hospital, Clínica Rotger, Mutua Balear and Ambulatorio del Carmen.
There are also other exceptions, such as vehicles belonging to residents registered at an address within the ZBE, vehicles for people with reduced mobility, vehicles belonging to public service concessionaires, vehicles used by public administration staff, emergency and essential public safety vehicles, public transport, goods transport vehicles and vehicles belonging to healthcare centre workers.