Is This the End of the Road for Madrid’s Car Ban?

Last year, Madrid made history with one of the most comprehensive bans on private vehicles in any European city. The new regulations barred cars not just from the Spanish capital’s historic core, but also from what had been major car routes, including the city’s main avenue, Gran Via. But following knife-edge elections at the end of May, however, that progressive policy looks to be “condemned to death,” as one newspaper headline on Tuesday put it dramatically.

The reasons are, as you would expect, political. A new three-party coalition will now govern the city, involving a right-wing, a centrist and an extreme-right party. All have previously declared themselves in some form against the car ban introduced by Madrid’s outgoing left-wing mayor, Manuela Carmena.