Overview
- Ecologistas en Acción’s 2025 review of 18 large and mid-sized cities found all above the EU’s 2030 annual NO2 limit of 20 µg/m3, though none exceeded the current 40 µg/m3 cap.
- The highest annual averages were roughly 30 µg/m3 at stations in Madrid (Plaza Elíptica), Málaga (Av. Juan XXIII), Granada (Norte), Barcelona (Eixample) and Murcia (San Basilio).
- Environmental groups say official monitors often miss traffic hot spots; Barcelona’s Eixample reading fell after roadworks curtailed traffic, prompting calls to relocate stations to truly representative sites.
- Spain’s legal requirement for low-emission zones remains widely unmet three years after the 2023 deadline, and NGOs argue many approved zones are too small or lax to cut traffic pollution.
- Ecologistas en Acción appealed Valladolid’s suspension of its zone during the Pingüinos motorcycle event and criticized an EU deferral tied to the 2035 combustion-car sales ban, urging stronger action well before 2030.