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Spain Improves Air Quality in 2024 but Fails to Meet Stricter EU Limits

Ecologistas en Acción highlights that tightened EU thresholds will require urgent measures as more than 30 million people still breathe unsafe air.

Emisiones de fábricas en un polígono de Ontinyent, en una imagen de archivo.
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Dos de cada tres españoles respiraron aire contaminado en 2024.
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Overview

  • Two-thirds of Spain’s population (30.9 million) breathed pollutant levels in 2024 exceeding new 2030 EU limits and all residents fell short of stricter WHO guidelines.
  • Under current EU rules, 17.2% of Spaniards (8.4 million) inhaled air above legal pollution limits, mainly in inner Catalonia, the Canary Islands and the Madrid region.
  • Ecologistas en Acción attributes reductions in particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and ozone to 57% renewable electricity generation and decreased gas consumption.
  • Urban traffic and industrial activities continue to drive pollution in major cities and port areas across Spain.
  • Most Spanish cities have yet to establish mandatory low-emission zones despite deadlines passing and climate change fueled heatwave ozone surges worsened air quality episodes.