Common front of the Catalan administrations to defend the Low Emissions Zone

The Government, the Metropolitan Area of ​​Barcelona (AMB) and the Barcelona City Council are not a usual political alliance.

They went hand in hand to launch the Low Emissions Zone (ZBE) of the capital, which vetoes the most polluting vehicles;

and now they are closing ranks in a common front that defends its effectiveness in the fight against pollution and to face the rulings of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) that annul it.

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Justice annuls the veto on polluting cars in Barcelona "because it is excessive"

This Tuesday afternoon, the technical and legal services of the three administrations, plus those of the four town councils that form part of the ZBE (L'Hospitalet, Cornellà, Esplugues and Sant Adrià), met to analyze how to respond to the sentences.

It is expected that this Wednesday they will reveal details of the appeal that they have 30 days to present before the Supreme Court to prevent the sentence from being final.

Before, at noon, the Government was clear and after its weekly meeting the spokeswoman, Patrícia Plaja, defended the ZBE as a "successful model of air pollution control" that works in large European cities.

"The Government continues to defend that the LEZs are a positive and necessary tool, and maintains that the deployment must be done in a balanced way, taking into account socioeconomic criteria and leaving no one behind," she pointed out.

And she remarked that the one in Barcelona was the result of institutional consensus.

Plaja also made it clear that the Generalitat maintains the will that the 67 municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants have low-emission zones banned for the most polluting cars before 2025, as agreed just five days ago at the third summit of the air quality.

On Monday, when the sentences were known, also the Minister of Climate Action, Teresa Jordà, valued the "political consensus in Catalonia" that made the ZBE possible.

From the Barcelona City Council, it was the deputy mayor for Urban Planning, Ecology and Mobility, Janet Sanz, who in successive interviews vehemently defended the low-emission zone as a formula to protect health from pollution, which, she recalled, causes a thousand deaths a year in the city.

Sanz defended that the ZBE "was not made overnight" and that "legally everyone looked at it."

And she emphasized that she has the "endorsement" of the Government and the European Union.

She from the Spanish executive, she assured her, because she sets an example in the deployment of the Climate Change Law, which forces cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants to have spaces banned from the most polluting vehicles.

And about the European institutions, he understood that they endorse the ZBE of Barcelona when they grant Next Generation funds;

and he recalled that the city is exposed to a fine of 1,600 million euros if it does not comply with the maximum levels of contamination.

Sanz, however, was open to introducing improvements or new elements in the ordinance laid down by the TSJC.

Employers and associations await the appeal of the City Council to request the execution of the sentence

The transport associations, guilds and employers that filed the six appeals against the Low Emissions Zone ordinance that led to its annulment by the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia, are waiting for the City Council to file its appeal before the Supreme Court to request the "provisional execution" of the annulment: that vehicles without a label should not be fined if they circulate within its perimeter.

"At the legal moment in which we can, we will request the execution of the sentence immediately," says the lawyer for ASOPARC, the association of those affected by the movement restrictions, David Neila.

The entity celebrates that the sentence "goes to the bottom" and regrets that the council did not listen to the alternatives they proposed, such as "gradual restrictions", changes in the engines with filters, or aid for the renewal of the circulating fleet.

The Guild of Workshops, which also challenged, is pending the appeal of the consistory, explains its Secretary General, Ramon Casas, who celebrates that the sentence "recognizes the deficiencies of the file that accompanied the ordinance."

He will also request "the provisional execution of the sentence" the discretionary transport association Audica.

Its president, Toni Serrat, recalls that the City Council did not listen to their arguments when they argued that a coach carries as many passengers as 30 cars.

Those who have barely been able to study the ruling are the transport employers jointly filed an appeal.

Transcalit's general secretary, Yolanda Redondo, explained on behalf of the rest that they are facing “very difficult days” due to the carriers' strike, which has prevented them from sitting down to analyze the texts and their response.

They are clear that they will request the execution of the annulment. 

The Association of Large Families rules out requesting immediate execution, because, according to its director, Raúl Sánchez, they should post a bail.

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