Madrid city council has announced a last minute relaxation of rules on cars driving in the capital without environmental stickers in 2025, pushing back proposed changes for a full year. However, this moratorium will only be for cars registered in Madrid.
According to a notice on the council website: “Madrid will grant a one-year notice period for the restriction of access to A vehicles.” Under low emissions rules in Spain, cars that are not eligible for a sticker are classified as ‘A’.
These are petrol vehicles that were manufactured before 2001 or diesel vehicles made before 2006. They cannot be used in Spain’s low-emissions zones (known as ZBEs) because they pollute the air too much.
On 1 January 2025 Madrid’s ZBE was due to come into full force, affecting all cars and vehicles without an environmental sticker, including those registered in the city.
READ ALSO: GUIDE – How to get an emissions sticker for your car in Spain
This would’ve meant that tens of thousands of Madrid residents would no longer be able to drive their cars without a label, or not without being fined for doing so, at least. According to data from the City Council, some 15,000 vehicles without a sticker circulate in the city every day.
But now the council has announced a 12 month moratorium on the measure, meaning that no cars registered in Madrid will be fined for the whole of 2025. The rule change also extends to motorbikes paying road tax in the capital.
Instead, A-vehicles registered in Madrid “intercepted by the cameras will receive a notification letter to their home address,” rather than being fined.
The U-turn also extends exemptions for certain types of vehicles on a temporary basis. It will apply to self-employed professionals over 59 (including those who will turn 59 in 2025) using transport vehicles of more than 3,500 kilos.
Individuals who need to visit Madrid to access healthcare services will also be exempt during this period. For these journeys, a procedure will be established for requesting access, as yet undefined.
Likewise, individuals who have bought a car with a sticker but have not yet received it will be able to drive without being fined.
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These will be temporary and join a number of other pre-existing exemptions included in municipal ordinances, including cars and vehicles adapted for people with reduced mobility, cars registered as ‘historic’, and emergency vehicles such as fire brigade and armed forces vehicles.
The year-long moratorium is the longest pushback on rules to date.
This essentially means that for the whole of 2025, cars without a DGT sticker that are registered in Madrid will be able to drive in the capital as before without being fined.
Currently, all non-resident passenger cars with environmental classification A in the following categories: 00 (unspecified), 02 (family) and 33 (off-road) are fined.
Penalties for entering the ZBE without a permit are €200, reduced to €100 in the case of prompt payment.
