Low-emission zone fines in Spain 2026: amount, timing, appeals
The fine is the same almost everywhere in Spain because the Traffic Act sets it. What changes is when you get it and which exceptions you have.
How much is a ZBE fine?
Total to pay
€100
| Per fine | €100 |
| Without early payment | €200 |
| Licence points | 0 |
Each day a camera catches you can produce a separate fine.
Driving in a low-emission zone without meeting its restrictions is a serious offence under section 76(z3) of Spain’s Traffic Act (Royal Legislative Decree 6/2015): “failing to respect traffic restrictions arising from pollution-episode protocols and low-emission zones”. Section 80 sets a €200 fine for serious offences, which section 81 allows to be raised by up to 30 % for seriousness, record or repeat offending; Barcelona applies that surcharge during pollution episodes. If you pay within 20 calendar days of notification, the fast-track procedure in section 94 halves it to €100, though you give up the right to appeal. No licence points are deducted. The notice goes to the vehicle’s registered owner, who has 20 days to name the driver. The amount and the rules are the same in Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga or Bilbao, because they come from national law rather than each byelaw.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
When the fine arrives
Almost every city starts with a warning phase in which cameras send letters without penalty: València until 30 November 2025, Donostia in January and February 2025, Vitoria-Gasteiz from September to December 2025, Granada from April to September 2025. After that, every camera detection during enforced hours can become a fine. Each city’s start date for fines is on its page and in the tool.
The council processes the fine using the number-plate camera image, matched against the environmental rating on the DGT vehicle register. It goes to the registered owner, who has 20 calendar days to identify the driver if it was someone else. For company or leased cars, it goes to the registered owner or long-term lessee.
Pay or appeal
Paying within 20 calendar days halves the fine and closes the case: no appeal is possible afterwards. If you think the notice is wrong, submit your objections within the same period with evidence: the technical card showing the Euro standard, the council permit, the approved car-park ticket or a certificate of residence. If the council rejects them, you can ask it to reconsider and then go to court.
The most common error that cancels a fine is a wrongly recorded environmental rating: a 2015 diesel approved to Euro 6 listed as a B, or a 2000 petrol car that was in fact Euro 3. First of all, look up the label on the DGT website with the plate and compare it with box V.9 of your technical card.
Exceptions that avoid the fine
Nearly every byelaw lets vehicles of people with reduced mobility, emergency services, historic vehicles and essential services in without a fine, but many require them to be registered with the council first. Others grant days or one-off accesses: 24 a year in Barcelona, 48 in València, 8 a month in Zaragoza, 10 a year in Sant Cugat. If your car has no label and you are heading to a specific city, requesting access before the trip is the cheapest way to avoid a fine.
During pollution episodes restrictions can go beyond the ordinary zone and the fine can carry the 30% surcharge. Those protocols are not in the tool: each city announces them when they are triggered.
Fines on company and hire cars
When the car belongs to a hire or leasing company, the fine goes to the company, which names the driver and often charges an admin fee on top. Check the contract terms before driving a hire car into a zone: the final cost can exceed the 200-euro fine.
Foreign drivers
If you live outside Spain, the notice may reach you by post through the vehicle data exchanged between EU countries, or directly on the spot if officers stop you. In that case the Traffic Act lets them set the fine provisionally and require it to be paid there, by card or cash in euros, with the 50% early-payment reduction applied. Without payment, the vehicle can be immobilised.
A final tip: keep any permit confirmation, car-park ticket or registration receipt for at least six months. Councils process camera detections in batches, and if a fine arrives weeks later, that piece of paper is usually what gets it cancelled at the objection stage without any further steps.
Finally, remember that the rules differ on public holidays and weekends: zones such as Barcelona, Bilbao, Sevilla, Sant Cugat and Zaragoza only enforce on working days, so a Saturday trip in an unlabelled car is legal there, while Madrid, Málaga or Granada enforce every day. The city page shows the enforced hours.