Murcia, Cartagena, Lorca and Molina de Segura have until the end of the year to implement the ZBE, Low Emission Zones, in accordance with the Climate Change law. Reducing traffic to improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions are the objectives of these urban areas, which are already a reality in major European cities.
Madrid and Barcelona have already set up low-emission zones and the clock is now ticking for cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants and those with 20,000 with air quality problems. These include Murcia, Cartagena, Lorca and Molina, which will have to decide the scope of application and how the restrictions on vehicle access, circulation and parking will be applied. Ecologistas en Acción has produced a guide for these councils to help them implement them. The NGO, through its spokesman, Pedro Belmonte, recalls that pollution has serious effects on the environment and public health; it causes respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
The Climate Change Law does not explicitly state where to establish low-emission zones. Ecologists believe that a basic criterion would be their proximity to air quality monitoring stations.
