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Madrid will allow vehicles without a label to drive while the air remains clean
Madrid City Council will approve a temporary exemption for cars without an environmental label. The measure will affect those who live in the capital or pay the tax there. The permission will remain only if air quality does not worsen. Changes that could influence daily mobility and neighbourhood parking.
Mobility in Madrid is being adjusted again. The City Council is preparing a key amendment to the Sustainable Mobility Ordinance (OMS) that will temporarily allow vehicles with environmental classification “A”—those without a label—to continue circulating and parking in their neighbourhoods. This exception will benefit only those registered in the city or paying the Motor Vehicle Tax (IVTM) in the capital.
The decision comes after finding that these cars represent only 1.08% of daily traffic in Madrid. The permit, included as a transitional provision, will also allow parking in the SER zones of the relevant neighbourhood. However, the measure is conditional: if any of the 24 air-quality stations detects nitrogen dioxide levels above European limits, the authorisation will be withdrawn immediately.
In recent years, Madrid has accelerated its transition towards a cleaner city. The elimination of coal boilers and the complete renewal of EMT’s bus fleet—now 100% clean—have set the pace. Since 2022, the capital has complied with the European air-quality directive, partly thanks to the Madrid 360 strategy and the regulation of low-emission zones: Madrid ZBE, Plaza Elíptica and Distrito Centro.
Recent data reinforce the trend: in 2024 and 2025, nitrogen dioxide readings have been the best in the historical series. No station exceeded 32 micrograms per cubic metre last year, compared with peaks of 51 and 53 recorded in 2019. This year, levels continue to fall: in January and February, all stations remained below 33 micrograms, when a year ago several exceeded 40.
The OMS has become the legal framework supporting the transformation of mobility in Madrid. Its application directly affects daily life: from how people move around the city to where they can park. Madrid is already beginning to move in that direction, with adjustments that seek to balance sustainability and flexibility for those who live here.
Madrid’s air-quality station network is one of the most extensive environmental-control systems in Europe. Distributed across the city, these stations make it possible to measure pollutant levels in real time and adjust municipal policies almost instantly. Their operation is key to anticipating pollution episodes and to allowing exceptions, such as the one now proposed for vehicles without a label, to be applied or withdrawn as the air we breathe evolves.