Málaga’s Low Emission Zone stops issuing fines: what changes now and what happens to existing penalties

Málaga’s Low Emission Zone enters a new phase from Wednesday 14 October. The City Council has suspended the system that generated proposed fines for vehicles entering the restricted area, following the effects of a ruling by the High Court of Justice of Andalusia.

In practical terms, drivers can currently enter the LEZ without receiving new fines linked to the environmental restrictions that had been in force until this week.

The suspension will remain in place while the City Council works on a new regulation adapted to the court ruling.

However, the decision raises several questions: how long will this situation last, will fines return and, above all, what happens to penalties that have already been issued?

Can drivers enter Málaga’s LEZ without being fined from today?

Yes, at least while the current suspension of the penalty system remains in force.

The cameras installed at access points will continue to form part of Málaga’s traffic infrastructure, but they will no longer generate new proposed fines for breaching LEZ restrictions.

This affects the approximately 404 hectares covered by the zone in central Málaga.

During this transitional period, a vehicle’s environmental sticker, age or municipality of registration will not in itself trigger a new fine for entering the area.

Why has Málaga stopped issuing fines?

The change follows a ruling by the High Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) concerning Málaga’s mobility ordinance.

The court partially upheld a challenge against the LEZ regulation and questioned the different treatment applied to vehicles registered in Málaga city compared with vehicles from other municipalities.

The ruling considered it problematic for certain vehicles to be allowed access based on where they were registered while other vehicles with equivalent environmental characteristics faced restrictions.

After reviewing the judgment over several months, the City Council has now decided to suspend fines while the regulation is amended.

The Low Emission Zone has not been abolished

The suspension of fines does not mean Málaga has permanently removed its LEZ.

The City Council is already working on a new ordinance that will redefine access conditions and the penalty system.

The process will not be immediate.

The municipal Mobility Department has indicated that preparing the new regulation could take around nine or ten months.

Before finalising the new model, the Council also plans to study court rulings affecting Low Emission Zones in other Spanish cities.

The aim is to avoid repeating similar legal problems in the future regulation.

Will Málaga start issuing LEZ fines again?

Málaga is expected to retain some form of Low Emission Zone, although the exact future restrictions have not yet been decided.

Spanish cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants are subject to obligations related to the introduction of these areas under national climate change and mobility legislation.

Certain public grants and funding linked to transport and sustainable mobility are also connected to compliance with these commitments.

The debate therefore appears to focus not on removing the LEZ entirely, but on creating a new system that can operate without the unequal treatment identified by the court.

What happens to fines that have already been issued?

For now, this is the biggest unanswered question.

The City Council has not yet announced a definitive solution for penalties issued before the suspension.

According to figures published up to July, around 46,000 fines had been generated in connection with the Low Emission Zone.

The ordinance established a €200 fine for entering or driving within the LEZ with an unauthorised vehicle, although the amount could be reduced through early payment.

Authorities will now need to determine what happens to cases that are still open, fines awaiting payment and penalties that have already been paid.

Do drivers still have to pay a pending fine?

At present, the City Council has not issued a general instruction that applies in the same way to every case.

Each penalty may be at a different stage of the administrative process.

Gestrisam continues to provide the usual procedures for checking fines, submitting objections and filing appeals.

Anyone with a pending LEZ fine should therefore check the specific status of their case before making any decision.

Will people who have already paid receive a refund?

There is no definitive official answer to this question either.

This may be especially relevant for drivers who paid quickly in order to benefit from the corresponding reduction.

The City Council will need to determine whether fines that are already final and paid will remain valid, whether some form of review procedure will be available or whether another mechanism will be introduced.

Until an official decision is published, it should not be assumed that money already paid will automatically be refunded.

Fines were set at €200

The municipal ordinance classified entering or driving within the Low Emission Zone without authorisation as a serious offence.

The corresponding fine was €200.

Early-payment reductions meant that many drivers could ultimately pay a lower amount.

The large number of cases accumulated so far now makes the handling of previous fines an important administrative and financial issue.

Which vehicles were affected?

Málaga’s rules established a gradual timetable of restrictions depending on environmental classification and the municipality where vehicles were registered.

That difference based on the place of registration was precisely one of the issues challenged in court.

The system included different phases for vehicles without an environmental sticker and vehicles with a B sticker, as well as temporary exemptions for certain goods vehicles.

With the current suspension, that timetable is now subject to the future regulatory changes.

Where is Málaga’s Low Emission Zone?

The Low Emission Zone covers approximately 404 hectares of central Málaga.

A network of cameras was installed at different entry and exit points to monitor access.

Municipal reports referred to dozens of control points around the perimeter.

Until now, the system was able to read number plates and automatically check whether a vehicle complied with the conditions set out in the ordinance.

The cameras may still be used for traffic management

The fact that they are no longer issuing LEZ fines does not necessarily mean the technological infrastructure will be switched off completely.

Málaga City Council uses different camera systems to monitor and manage urban traffic.

The suspension therefore applies specifically to penalties linked to environmental access restrictions, not necessarily to other traffic-management functions.

What should drivers do now?

For anyone driving in Málaga over the coming weeks, the main change is straightforward: entering the LEZ will not currently result in a new fine under the restrictions that were in force until this week.

Existing fines are a different matter.

Anyone with a pending penalty should check their individual case through the municipal services and follow future announcements from the City Council.

It will also be important to monitor the new ordinance, as restrictions could return under different criteria.

An LEZ in transition

Málaga’s Low Emission Zone has not disappeared, but it has entered a transitional period.

The penalty system is suspended while a new regulation is drafted in line with the court ruling.

Until then, drivers temporarily regain access to the area without the environmental fines that had been applied.

The major unresolved issue now concerns previous penalties.

With tens of thousands of fines already processed, the City Council will have to clarify what happens to those who have not yet paid, those who appealed and those who paid before the current situation changed.