Central Madrid Rolls Out a Tough-Love Plan to Limit Cars

Drive a car into central Madrid and expect to receive a €90 ($115 U.S) ticket soon after. That’s the radical new rule beginning this January, when the Spanish capital will launch measures to sweep its core free of cars. As of next year, drivers who don’t live in Madrid’s four most central barrios will only be allowed to drive into them for free if they have a guaranteed space in one of the area’s 13 official parking lots. For anyone else who brings their car into the area (as recorded by cameras placed at the zone’s entry points), a €90 fine will be sent to the address where the car is registered.

Part of this zone is in place already (in the barrios of Cortes and Embajadores), but the new rules will more than double the current area to 1.36 square miles of Madrid’s downtown. If current mayor Ana Botella has her way, the scheme will be extended to two further barrios—bar-filled Chueca and Malasaña—before she steps down next year. On top of all this, there are further (but not yet fully approved) plans to pedestrianize 25 percent more of inner Madrid and increase its number of bus lanes, putting the area well on the way to an almost car-free future.