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ARCHIVED - Alicante Low Emission Zones: the best kept secret in Spain
The local government in Alicante still hasn’t confirmed which parts of the city will restrict certain drivers
Four months after the Spanish government required all major towns and cities to implement low emission zones (ZBEs), few provincial capitals have fully complied, but Alicante city is certainly lagging behind most.
At the beginning of the year, Mayor Luis Barcala promised that the full details would be revealed “soon”, but no further information on this important, and mandatory, environmental measure has been forthcoming.
In keeping with the EU battle against climate change, larger urban centres in Spain must establish these ZBEs, areas where older, more polluting vehicles will be limited or prohibited entirely. In theory, they should have been implemented across the country on January 1, but the government has been lenient given the obvious challenges.
However, the powers that be in Alicante won’t be allowed to dodge the issue much longer, and the matter will be tabled once again at the plenary session scheduled for this Thursday, April 27. Opposition parties in particular are expected to hold the regional government to ransom, demanding a reason why the public hasn’t even been given a hint about where certain vehicles may be excluded.
Mayor Luis Barcala has been on the receiving end of scathing criticism, not least because Alicante authorities approved the decree that fines of 200 euros should be slapped on drivers who violate the traffic restrictions established by the ZBEs, without ever revealing where these environmentally-friendly streets might be.
The situation will hopefully become clearer this week, but at the moment, the only thing that is known with any certainty is that the Low Emission Zone in Alicante will be configured in two rings: an outer one, which is defined by the Gran Vía, as the main artery for traffic distribution in the city, and the entire coastal front, with a surface approximately 750 hectares. The other ring will comprise the Centro Tradicional, which is configured by Alfonso el Sabio, Gadea and Soto avenues, with an approximate area of 54 hectares.
"In both the first and second ring, the limitation will be carried out progressively, establishing a calendar of restrictions linked to the possible appearance of polluting elements," the local government said in January, without providing further details since then.
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Image: Pixabay
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