The Torrevieja City Council is set to give final approval today Monday, December 22nd, to the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) ordinance that the local government wants to put into effect in 2026, three years later than what state law requires for a city with more than 50,000 people like Torrevieja.
It will do this with the votes of the Popular Party’s governing team, even though they haven’t shown much conviction so far when it comes to processing this traffic restriction region that would affect the centre of the city.
The air quality and the recovery of public space
The local administration currently says that the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) will help make the air in cities cleaner, reduce the need for private cars, restore public space, and make it easier for everyone to get around.
The City Council started the process on September 20th, 2021, mostly to get European financing to pay for it. They have since had to pay back one million euros plus late payment interest. It took more than four years to finish the law. The procedure began on September 20th, 2021, to follow Law 7/2021 of May 20th, which deals with climate change and the energy transition. Because the municipality is so big, it had to set up the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) by January 2023.
The document that is up for a vote says that the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) is being put in place because the noise and pollution from traffic jams make it necessary to define a low emission zone in the areas around the axis of Ramón Gallud Street and the axis of the Vistalegre promenade (formerly Paseo de la Libertad), Juan Aparicio promenade, and the streets around them. The Plaza de la Constitución, the Vista Alegre promenade, the port area, and the Ramón Gallud and Caballero de Rodas commercial thoroughfares are among famous places that are part of this zone.
The ZBE is delimited by the following main axes:
- North → Avenida Diego Ramírez Pastor.
- East → Calle Ramón Gallud and Juan Aparicio Promenade.
- South → Avenida Doctor Gregorio Marañón.
- West → Calle Apolo and Avenida Habaneras
The law backs up the rules that keep the oldest and most polluting cars out of this low-emission zone. If they break the rules, they will be fined 200 euros, which will be checked by cameras that read licence plates.
Federico Alarcón, the Traffic Councillor, said that these fines won’t go into effect until 2027, perhaps after the municipal election campaign in May of that year.
The same text says that protecting the atmosphere and improving air quality are important goals for environmental public policies at all levels of government in Europe, including the EU, national, regional, and local levels. To reach these goals, new rules need to be made to cut down on pollution and fight climate change. So the law.
Streets and avenues that are part of the Low Emission Zone
Zone 1. Area comprised between the following streets: Paseo Vistalegre, Paseo de la Libertad, Calle Ramón y Cajal, Calle Patricio Zammit, Calle San Pascual and Calle Orihuela.
Zone 2. Extends the previous area to the perimeter formed by the following streets: Avenida de la Purísima, Calle Maestro Francisco Casanovas, Calle San José, Calle Santa Trinidad, Calle Bilbao, Calle San Julián, Avenida del Doctor Gregorio Marañón and Avenida Faleria.
Over a million square meters
The Low Emission Zone (LEZ) lies in the middle of the city, where there are the most people, businesses, hotels, and tourists in Torrevieja. According to technicians, 21,557 people will be directly affected by the LEZ, which is 24% of Torrevieja’s entire population as of the 2024 census.
The area that is affected is 1,104,169 m², including 552,120 m² in Zone 1 and 552,049 m² in Zone 2. There are more than 40 kilometres of roadways, 132 hotels and restaurants, and about 600 companies and commercial activities.
When the law was put into place, traffic patterns were taken into account. During the busiest times of year, traffic counts show that rush hours are between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. People are going shopping and, notably, to the city’s beaches. These flows also get bigger after 6 p.m. during the off-season.
Analysis of costs and benefits
There were 14,526 vehicles that passed between the two traffic counters on Avenida Baleares and Rosa Mazón, which were placed between the bypass and Avenida Delfina Viudes. Another intriguing counter is on Avenida Desiderio Rodríguez, between the N-332 Cartagena route and the Lago Mar beach complexes.
Based on the actual projected costs of the concession and the allocation of municipal staff, the cost-benefit analysis of the Torrevieja Low Emission Zone (LEZ) shows that the total cost over 10 years is €3,085,695. This includes the initial investment of €1 million, technical maintenance, and municipal staff assigned to the LEZ. The estimated annual benefits (€52–€122 million) “far exceed the costs” at the same time.
This expenditure and benefit are divided into an initial economic effort of 1,732,192 euros over three years. This amount is divided into external items related to the contract (subject to VAT) and internal municipal costs (not subject to VAT). The external items include licence plate reading cameras, environmental air quality sensors, a cloud-based management platform that works with DGT systems, a control centre (software, hardware, licences, and equipment), horizontal and vertical signage, an
Saving
The socio-economic impact report on the measure says that the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) would save Torrevieja between 162,000 and 726,000 euros a year in direct healthcare costs because it would lower the number of respiratory illnesses. The amount saved would depend on the phase and level of reduction used.
These advantages are solely for lowering the expenses of hospitals, medicines, and healthcare. They don’t include other effects on premature death or social welfare, which would make the total benefit much higher.
The same estimate says that less traffic will save between 35 and 70 million euros a year on fuel. So, the economic benefits are far more than the initial cost.
There has only been one opposition, from a group of private security businesses that wants all cars in this area, regardless of what type they are, to be allowed into the Low Emission Zone (LEZ). They will be able to do this if they sign up.
Author: Derek Appleton
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