Madrid 360 low emissions zone 2025

Madrid’s Low-Emission Zone (LEZ) represents a significant shift in the city’s approach to air quality management. In 2021, when Spain’s Supreme Court annulled Madrid Central, the city’s original LEZ, on procedural grounds, the municipality responded by embedding emissions regulation within the Madrid 360 Strategy for Environmental Sustainability, a broader mobility and infrastructure policy. This strategy addressed the legal, political and operational shortcomings of Madrid Central by situating the LEZ within a citywide strategic framework rather than as a standalone measure. The results validate this integrated framework. Through the Madrid 360 Strategy for Environmental Sustainability, the city attained compliance with the European Union (EU) air quality norms after a decade of violations, with nitrogen dioxide levels falling 40-45% city-wide, and achieved its cleanest air on record in 2024. The new LEZ has provided documented health benefits and has increased the use of public and active transport in the city. It has also endured through changes in municipal government and multiple court challenges, underscoring its durability. Madrid’s experience offers an example for other cities – demonstrating that anchoring LEZs within a comprehensive, infrastructure-led policy enhances political durability, public communication and administrative robustness and can deliver significant and lasting air-quality improvements. Madrid’s experience also demonstrates that early setbacks can inform progress on climate action by providing a roadmap for resilience and reinvention, helping cities to achieve ambitious policy goals. Policy snapshot Madrid’s unique geography – it is nestled in a basin and prone to temperature inversions – traps air pollutants, intensifying the city’s chronic air quality issues.1 This environmental vulnerability, combined with growing concerns over public health, made regulatory action not just necessary, but urgent.2 Moreover, Spain’s repeated failure to meet EU air quality standards placedthe country at risk of serious sanctions, underscoring the critical need for meaningful and lasting policy reform.3 The Low-Emission Zone (LEZ) Madrid (or Zona Baja de Emisiones), was launched in 2021 as a central part of the city’s Madrid 360 environmental strategy to address the above challenges.4 The strategy is built on three pillars: Urban transformation: Advancing energy efficiency, electrification, circular economy practices and green space expansion.Mobility: Promoting sustainable, multimodal transport and reducing the number of polluting vehicles.Administration: Modernizing regulations and building digital capabilities to support climate goals. The LEZ was implemented in 2021 to restrict the most polluting vehicles from entering the city. In 2018, Madrid's pollution levels had exceeded EU limits for nearly a decade. Only meaningful and long-lasting reform could improve the city’s air quality.