By The Crazy Guy
From 1 January 2023 if you want to travel into a town or city in Spain, you are supposed to display an eco-Sticker in the windscreen of your car. From the end of the year all towns in Spain with more than 50,000 inhabitants must have the infrastructure in place to monitor cars entering their municipio. From that date it is also compulsory for drivers to display the appropriate sticker for their vehicle.
Older vehicles are not eligible and must not enter these urban ZBEs (Zonas Bajas Emisiones – in English Low Emissions Zones). But you may still drive your car outside of these areas.
These restrictions do not apply to foreign-registered vehicles.
Background
This initiative, which has already begun in cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Sevilla, as well as Valladolid, Alicante and Murcia, is designed to clean up the polluted air in inner-city areas.
All of a sudden, car owners are getting concerned. I first heard about it when a friend posted a link to a WhatsApp group before Christmas.
Since then The Olive Press has published an article (current edition Issue 410 or www.theolivepress.es).
Lenox a blogger at EyeOnSpain has also covered it in a very witty article. See below.
The Stickers
There are five categories and four stickers. Category A is for vehicles which are too old and have high exhaust emissions and MAY NOT ENTER A ZBE. Petrol vehicles registered before 2001 and diesels before 2006 fall into this category.
The other categories are colour-coded:
B, yellow, is for petrol vehicles registered from 1 January 2001 and diesels from 1 January 2006.
C, green, is for petrol vehicles registered from 1 January 2006 and diesels after 1 September 2015.
Eco, green and blue, is for hybrid, natural gas, CNG or LPG vehicles
Zero ‘O’, blue, for electric, hydrogen or fuel cell vehicles.
You can find out which sticker is for you by going to the DGT website and entering your registration number. My car is relatively new, so I get a green sticker.
Please note: Foreign-registered vehicles are not required to display a sticker. But you would be advised to make sure the vehicle is legal in Spain.
How to get your sticker
There are several ways:
- Online at the DGT website (Direccion General de Tráfico)
- At any post office – Correos
- At selected car parts distributors – in Ronda at Sierra Sur Recambios Ronda in Calle Río Guadalteba in the Polígono Industrial.
A sticker costs 5€.
***
I went to Sierra Sur today to get mine. All I needed to show were the car’s documents and my ID.
Five minutes, five euros. Sorted.
With thanks to:
Jill La Peche
Jo Chipchase
Lenox Napier
The Olive Press
© The Crazy Guy
Other useful links:
Correos www.correos.es
DGT www.pegatinas-dgt.com
https://sede.dgt.gob.es/es/vehiculos/distintivo-ambiental#
EyeOnSpain Eco Stickers and How Long Have We Got? (eyeonspain.com)
N332 www.n332.es
The Olive Press Spain is introducing low emission zones in city centres that will prohibit 75% of vehicles. Does this affect your car? - Olive Press News Spain (theolivepress.es)
Upsticks https://upsticks.es/driving-in-spain-eco-stickers-all-you-need-to-know/
Tags: CNG, Correos, Crazy Guy, DGT, diesel, dirección general de tráfico, eco-sticker, fuel cell, LEZ, LPG, Olive Press, petrol, Sierra Sur Recambios, ZBE