Madrid's radical anti-air pollution plan revealed

The city council has announced 'heavy restrictions' on traffic, including all private vehicles banned from the central Gran Vía, which runs down to the main Puerta del Sol square, from June next year, plus increased hour slots for parking meters – additional ones to be installed in the suburbs outside the M-30 ringroad – and pavements to be widened.

All cars which do not have the General Directorate of Traffic's (DGT's) 'environmental kitemark' will be banned from the entire city from the start of the year 2025.

This effectively means one car in every five, or 20% of those currently on the road.

Petrol cars registered prior to the year 2000 and diesel cars registered before 2006 are those which will not pass the DGT's 'environmentally-friendly' test.

A priority residents-only area will be set up for driving within the central 'almond', or the inner city within the M-30, and they will be exempt from parking meter costs if these have to be set up in traffic-heavy suburbs.

Pedestrianising streets, replacing the local authority fleet and public transport vehicles with electrically-powered cars and buses, and no parking within the M-30 'almond' for the two-in-10 from the year 2020 are other measures among the list of 30 drawn up by Manuela Carmena's government.

Restrictions will eventually mean only residents, public transport, users of public car parks, guests, emergency vehicles, commercial and trade vehicles, emission-free cars, motorbikes during the daytime only, those who own a parking space, and vehicles for the disabled or partially-disabled will be allowed in the city centre.

Information boards will be set up to show where empty car-parking spaces are and how many, so drivers do not enter the city and travel around in circles for ages looking for a place.

Software, including mobile phone Apps, will be created so motorists can reserve a space in advance.

Metered spaces, or 'blue bays' will eventually be eliminated altogether, and 'green' bays gradually reduced.

Speed limits within the M-30 'almond' will drop to 30 kilometres per hour (18.75mph).

Madrid has been pulled up repeatedly in the last seven years by the European Union for its exceptionally-high air-pollution levels, and the council has been forced to impose periodic day-long traffic bans when the smog becomes too dense.

The situation has now reached a point where permanent action needs to be taken, and the city authority aims to cut its nitrous oxide (NOx) levels by 23% within the next two-and-a-half years, with the aim of being re-branded as a 'low-emissions city' by the year 2030.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), air pollution is the direct cause of death of six million people worldwide every year and causes ongoing health problems for those who survive, such as headaches, nausea, fatigue, depression and respiratory conditions.