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Spanish Cities Miss 2030 EU NO2 Target as Ecologists Sue Over Weak Low-Emission Zones

An NGO analysis of 2025 official readings in 18 big cities reports NO2 above the EU’s forthcoming 20 µg/m3 annual cap.

Overview

  • Ecologistas en Acción says none of the 18 largest Spanish cities met the 2030 EU nitrogen dioxide threshold using 2025 monitoring data, though no city breached the current 40 µg/m3 legal limit.
  • Reported annual averages include Madrid at 32 µg/m3, Málaga at 31, Granada at 30, and Barcelona at 29, while Valladolid’s Arco del Ladrillo station registered 20 µg/m3.
  • The NGO has sued Valladolid to demand an effective low-emission zone and has appealed the city’s suspension of LEZ rules for the Pingüinos motorcycle gathering.
  • The report warns many stations are not located at traffic hotspots as required by new EU criteria and urges authorities to relocate monitors and tighten urban traffic controls.
  • Citing the EEA’s estimate of 4,100 NO2-linked premature deaths in Spain in 2023, the group also criticizes the European Commission’s extension related to the 2035 combustion-vehicle sales ban.