The cities in Spain with new low-emission zones in 2026

Cities across Spain have slowly been introducing Low Emission Zones over the last few years, but not all places have them fully implemented yet. Here’s a list of the Spanish cities and towns which have to have new ZBEs in 2026.

Low Emission Zones (Zona de Bajas Emisiones or ZBEs in Spanish) aim to help reduce air pollution in Spain’s urban areas by 2050, in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement, as well as to make sure vehicles are cleaner and more sustainable.

They started to be mandatory in 2023 for some municipalities as part of the Spanish government’s climate change and energy transition legislation.

On January 1st 2026, however, the government’s extension for cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants and all the Spanish islands to have a ZBE will end, meaning they will have to have implemented one or at least be in the process of doing so.

ZBEs affect those who have vehicles that do not have an environmental label and means drivers should be aware of this system before entering certain urban centres.

The below cities currently have ZBEs in process, which if all goes to plan, should be completed before January 2026. It’s worth keeping in mind though that many municipalities have fallen behind in the past and have not met required deadlines, so there may be some delays. 

Catalonia:

Girona

Manresa

Granollers

Mataró

Santa Coloma de Gramenet

Castelldefels

Vilanova I la Geltrú

Tarragona

Reus

Sant Boi de Llobregat

Rubí

Asturias:

Oviedo

Gijón

Avilés

Castilla y León:

León

Zamora

Palencia

Burgos

READ ALSO: Changes to vehicle emission stickers in 2026 

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Cantabria:

Santander

Basque Country:

Vitoria-Gasteiz

Irún

Galicia:

Vigo

Ourense

Lugo

La Rioja:

Logroño

Aragón:

Huesca

Valencia:

Valencia city

Torrent

Castelló de la Plana

Vila-real

Sagunt

Alcoy

Gandia

Paterna

Elda

Torrevieja

Sant Vicent del Raspeig

Murcia:

Murcia city

Lorca

Balearic Islands:

Calvià

Eivissa

READ ALSO: How to get an emissions sticker for your car in Spain

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Castilla-La Mancha:  

Cuenca

Albacete

Ciudad Real

Toledo

Talavera de la Reina

Madrid:

Aranjuez

Alcalá de Henares

Leganés

Pinto

Parla

Pinto

San Sebastián de los Reyes

Majadahonda

Collado Villalba

Colmenar Viejo

Extremadura:

Cáceres

Mérida

Andalusia:

Huelva

Dos Hermanas

Utrera

Alcalá de Guadaíra

Jerez de la Frontera

Cádiz

San Fernando

Chiclana de la Frontera

Algeciras

Marbella

Mijas

Benalmádena

There will also be changes to the ZBE in Madrid, where vehicles without an environmental sticker from Spain’s General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) will be permanently banned from circulating throughout the entire municipality, including the M-30 and M-40 ring roads. 

According to the latest study by the Cetelem Observatory on Spaniards’ habits regarding sustainable urban mobility, pressure on municipalities and citizens is having a noticeable impact on vehicle purchases.

Low Emission Zones (LEZs) affect almost half of the country’s population. A total of 45.5 percent of Spaniards surveyed live in or regularly travel to a Low Emission Zone with access, circulation, and parking restrictions for the most polluting vehicles.

According to the study, 8 out of 10 Spaniards know which label they want for their car and will choose the make and model accordingly.