Environmental groups call for daily €4 toll to drive in Barcelona

Fee would affect all vehicles every day except for those with three or more passengers

A sign indicating a low emissions zone and the resttriction of cars in Barcelona. (Photo: Pol Solà)
A sign indicating a low emissions zone and the resttriction of cars in Barcelona. (Photo: Pol Solà) / ACN

ACN | Barcelona

May 18, 2022 06:38 PM

Several environmental groups have proposed a daily €4 toll to drive in Barcelona every day from 7 am to 8 pm limiting the number of vehicles and reducing pollution in the Catalan capital. 

The fee would be controlled using cameras already in place inside Barcelona’s Low Emissions Zone. 

If the proposal were to go ahead, all vehicles, regardless of their owners’ place of residence, would be affected: cars, motorcycles, vans, and trucks. There would be some exceptions, such as when three or more people carpool. Owners would also have up to 10 days a year of their choice to drive at no cost.

Other exceptions include public transport, ambulances, vehicles used by people with reduced mobility, or low-income workers that need their car to go to their place of employment. 

‘Barcelona 22’

The promoters of the ‘Barcelona 22’ campaign consider this to be the most effective way of encouraging people to stop driving in the city and leaving behind an "unsustainable" and "unfair" model.  

The slogan and the branding environmental groups have used is reminiscent of the one used during the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. They want to "revert" the policy that allows "massive projects and investments," María García, from the Ecologistes en Acció platform said on Tuesday during a press conference in front of the city hall and the Catalan government HQ.  

These activists hope to meet with public administrations soon to present their proposal and to get political support. 

Janet Sanz, Barcelona’s councilor for ecology and mobility, confirmed the council will review the proposal, but said it will require a "deal" between several public administrations, such as that which made the Low Emissions Zone a reality.

And in order to implement the ‘Barcelona 22’s proposal, lawmakers would need to approve new legislation to make the toll possible. 

€370 million in revenue

Entities also propose to use the same equipment already in place to control the Low Emissions Zone. They even suggest having different payment options, such as a daily fee or paying for a specific timeframe. 

The €4 toll, affecting all vehicles, could bring up to €370 million in annual revenue that could in turn be invested invest in public transport and health. 

Barcelona’s pollution

‘Barcelona 22’ promoters complain that the Catalan capital is the European city with the highest vehicle density and the sixth most polluted. Transportation represents 50% of all atmosphere pollutants. 

To prove their suggestion works, they cited some of the 19 cities in eight different European countries that already have a similar toll in place such as London, Milan, or Stockholm.

According to them,  a €4 toll would reduce the amount of traffic by up to 30% and direct traffic by 21% in Barcelona. 

Barcelona’s Low Emissions Zone in danger

The High Court of Catalonia annulled on March 21 the Barcelona City Council’s Low Emission Zone regulation, which restricts the access of older and more polluting cars into the city. 

The court struck out the regulation arguing there are not enough studies on the matter. The High Court also ruled that the Catalan capital ordinance surpassed their city jurisdiction and there are some deficiencies in the types of vehicles excluded from entering Barcelona.

The court accepted six appeals presented by 10 different organizations in Barcelona affected by the Low Emissions Zone. However, the city council stated at a time they would appeal the decision. 

Therefore, the sentence despite being of "immediate enforcement" did not come into force as the decision can be argued. 

Low Emission Zones are specific areas that restrict the circulation of older, more polluting vehicles, and Barcelona adopted the regulation on January 1, 2020

The measure is estimated to affect some 50,000 vehicles in the Catalan capital and sees fines given to drivers whose vehicles are not allowed to enter the Low Emission Zone at certain times of the day.