Madrid City Hall introduces parking restrictions due to high pollution levels

The Madrid Local Authority on Monday introduced parking restrictions in the center of the Spanish capital as a further measure to combat high contamination levels in the city.

From Monday morning non-residents of the capital are not allowed to park their vehicles within the M-30 ring road between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., which will cause problems for people who habitually use their cars to commute to work.

Meanwhile, the speed limit on the M-30 and on access roads into the capital remains limited to a maximum of 70 km an hour.

This is the second stage of measures in Madrid's anti-contamination protocols and follows the reduction in speed limits which was introduced at 6 a.m. on Sunday morning as the protocols were first activated in the city.

This happened after the limit of 180 micrograms of Nitrogen Dioxide per cubic meter was measured at two weather stations within the city limits for a period of over two consecutive hours on Saturday.

The high pollution levels, coupled with predictions of warm, dry weather and virtually no wind until the end of the week mean the restrictions could be in place for the rest of the week, although the fact Tuesday is a public holiday in Spain could serve to reduce levels slightly. Endit