Spain tightens urban restrictions on 10-year-old Diesel cars - could Portugal follow, says ACP

Several Spanish cities are getting ready to tighten restrictions on car movements in urban areas, extending the rules to newer vehicles - including Diesel cars that are only 10 years old. The question is whether similar measures would make sense in Portugal.

Why the ACP says it would not work in Portugal

That is what we put to Carlos Barbosa, president of the ACP (Automóvel Club de Portugal). His first reaction to the Spanish approach was blunt, calling it “a cheap policy from Spain”, where “these days anything goes”.

Turning to Portugal, he was unequivocal: “it is not possible to apply it in Portugal, because the car fleet is much older”. He quickly added that it would, in effect, “stop half of the Diesel car fleet”.

Portugal’s car fleet: ageing vehicles and a heavy reliance on Diesel

That warning carries more weight when you look at Pordata figures. Out of more than 7.1 million passenger cars on the road in the country (2023 data), around 4.5 million are Diesel - in other words, over 60%.

We were not able to confirm how many of those Diesel cars are 10 years old or more. However, we do know that more than half of the passenger cars in circulation - almost 3.7 million - are already a decade old or older. The average age of Portugal’s car fleet is now above 14 years, and it continues to get older.

Barbosa also argues that the challenge is not only the age profile of vehicles: “This could never happen in Portugal, because we don’t have public transport to make up for that lack of cars in the city.”

The data supports that point. In 2023, only 11.8% of journeys in Portugal (measured in passenger-kilometres) were made using public transport. That places Portugal 25th out of the 27 European Union Member States.

Lisbon already has Reduced Emissions Zones (ZER)

It is worth remembering that, in Spain, all cities and municipalities with more than 50,000 residents were required to introduce Low Emission Zones (ZBE) by 2023. These limit access for older or more polluting vehicles, based on a category or sticker system.

Until now, ZBE traffic restrictions have mainly targeted cars without a category (the oldest vehicles). However, several Spanish cities are set to expand the rules to cars with a B sticker - meaning petrol vehicles registered between 2001 and 2005, and Diesel vehicles registered between 2006 and August 2015.

This change will affect drivers of more than nine million cars, which is roughly 31.5% of Spain’s vehicle fleet.

Portugal also has areas where older vehicles are banned from circulating. These Reduced Emissions Zones (ZER) exist only in Lisbon, and have been in place since 2011. Unlike Spain, there is no sticker system; instead, the bans apply to cars that only meet up to the Euro 3 standard - find out more about the ZER by following this link.