Madrid to ban traffic from city centre, except residents

The massive circle marked out by the city council in which vehicles will no longer be allowed from the end of the year includes the streets near the main Atocha station, the Plaza de España, the Gran Vía, the Paseo del Prado and almost as far as the Retiro Park and the Cibeles fountain roundabout.

To make up for the car restrictions, cycle lanes will be extended.

Other environmentally-friendly measures will include replacing the city buses with hybrid or electric vehicles and cutting the speed limit on the M-30 ringroad to 70 kilometres per hour.

Fortunately, Madrid's public transport network is extensive and its metro system well-connected and regular with stations close together.

Residents have been pushing for traffic to be kept out of the city - except for vehicles belonging to those who live there – for years, if not decades, but local traders are not at all keen on the idea as they fear they will lose business if visitors cannot drive close to their premises.

Attempts to turn part of the central hub into a resident-only area in 2015 led to thousands of fines being sent out due to an admin error, affecting at least 3,000 residents, commuters and traders.

They were each fined €90 for driving into a restricted area.

In the end, the city council agreed to waive all fines issued between August that year and March 15 the following year.

Madrid, along with Barcelona, were ordered to report to the European Commission earlier this year together with 10 other member States to explain what they intended to do about dangerously-high air pollution levels.

Since then, the Commission has approved the steps proposed by Spain's two largest cities and, together with the Czech Republic and Slovenia, no longer have to appear in the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

Others, including the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Hungary and Romania, will be expected to appear before a judge and could be sanctioned for their inaction.