Barcelona to restrict most polluting motorcycles from December

Barcelona city council is to restrict the circulation of the most polluting motorcycles and mopeds in Low Emission Zones within the perimeter of the city’s ring roads at times of high air pollution. At these times, the restrictions, which will come into effect from next December, will be applied during weekdays from 7am to 8pm.

The announcement of the new restrictions coincided with the Directorate General of Traffic’s (DGT) distribution of air pollution stickers identifying these vehicles. While use of the sticker is voluntary, as it is with cars and vans, the traffic authority advises putting the sticker in a visible place on the vehicle so as to make identification by local police easier.

Barcelona residents who are owners of motorcycles classified within the B, C, ECO or Zero Emissions categories can already pick up their stickers in any of the city’s 85 post offices, or collect them after a waiting period of three or four working days in any post office in Spain. The cost of the tickets is five euros.

According to the DGT, some 40% of motorcycles and mopeds registered in Barcelona belong in the C environmental category (green stickers), while another 40% have no right to a sticker as they are considered to be highly polluting. Some 19% are in the B category and only 1% in the Zero Emissions category.