Everything you need to know about North Spain Low Emission Zones (LEZ)

At Caminos by Casas Cantabricas, we are the leading northern Spain self-drive specialists. Our expert team create bespoke touring holidays tailored to your needs, whether you’re planning to bring your own car on the ferry or to fly and travel with a rental car . Our strong local presence combined with over 40 years of experience in northern Spain in particular mean we’re well placed to help you make the most of your journey - and navigate the pitfalls including Low Emission Zones.

If you are planning a self-drive holiday in northern Spain, it is worth knowing how Spain’s Low Emission Zones work before you travel. These zones are known locally as Zonas de Bajas Emisiones, or ZBE, and they are now being introduced in many Spanish cities.

The good news is that, for most visitors, Low Emission Zones do not need to be a major concern. In many cases, access is straightforward if you are staying at a hotel with parking, using a public car park, or driving a modern Spanish rental car. The key is to check the rules for the specific city you plan to visit.

Antonio Cortijo

Antonio is our resident Low Emission Zone expert. It's his job to navigate the legal language and technical guidance published on Spanish city council websites, interpreting and simplifying the rules for international travellers planning a self-drive holiday.

As Spain’s LEZ system continues to develop, on a city-by-city basis, building a clear national picture can be challenging. The outlook for visitors is, however, generally very positive, with most cities offering practical work-arounds for foreign-registered vehicles. The wider benefits are also considerable: less traffic, reduced noise and cleaner air make Spain's city centres more pleasant to explore.

“The introduction of Low Emission Zones is a logical step that should make Spain’s cities more enjoyable to visit. The decentralised system can be complex to follow, so we have made it our business to understand the regulations and provide our clients with clear, concise guidance. That way, they can avoid unnecessary problems and concentrate on enjoying their trip.”

Though Spain's Low Emission Zone implementation has been implemented in a decentralised, city-by-city some general points apply and, if you're planning a driving holiday in northern Spain, it's worth understanding the basic principles and following a few general guidelines.

Spain requires larger towns and cities (over 50,000 inhabitants) to introduce Low Emission Zones as part of its environmental legislation. These zones are designed to reduce traffic pollution in city centres and improve air quality.

However, there is no single national system that works in exactly the same way everywhere. Each city decides how its own Low Emission Zone is designed, where the boundaries are, which vehicles are restricted, and what exemptions are available.

This means that rules can vary from one city to another. A system that works in Bilbao may not be identical to one in San Sebastián, Santander, Oviedo or other cities in northern Spain.

If you bring your own car to Spain by ferry from the UK or Ireland, your vehicle will not have a Spanish environmental sticker. This usually means it is treated as a foreign vehicle and may need to follow the local rules for unclassified vehicles.

In many northern Spanish cities, this is not usually a problem for visitors. Most cities allow access to the Low Emission Zone if your vehicle is going directly to approved parking, such as:

• a public car park inside the restricted zone
• a hotel car park

In many public car parks, your number plate is scanned automatically and the vehicle is exempted for that visit. If you are staying in a hotel inside the Low Emission Zone, reception staff can often register your car with the local system.

For most travellers, the simplest approach is this: if you are visiting a city for the day, drive directly to a public car park. If you are staying overnight, check in advance that your hotel can register your vehicle or advise you where to park.

More good news! If you are travelling in a Spanish rental car, things are usually much simpler.

Spanish vehicles are classified with a DGT environmental label. At present, cities in northern Spain generally allow vehicles with a C label to enter their Low Emission Zones. The C label applies to most modern petrol cars registered from 2006 and diesel cars registered from 2015.

In practical terms, this means that almost all modern Spanish rental cars should be able to enter the Low Emission Zones covered in this guide without any extra registration.

If your rental car is significantly older than this, it would be very unusual. If you booked through us, this should not be an issue.

Spanish vehicles are required by law to display a sticker on the windshield. The stickers are used to classify vehicles by emissions and energy efficiency. Here's the guide:

• 0 Emissions, blue: Electric vehicles, fuel-cell vehicles and plug-in hybrids with at least 40 km electric range.
• ECO, green/blue: Hybrids, plug-in hybrids with under 40 km range, and gas-powered vehicles.
• C, green: Petrol vehicles registered from 2006 and diesel vehicles registered from 2015.
• B, yellow: Petrol vehicles registered from 2001 and diesel vehicles registered from 2006.

General advice:

• If renting a vehicle whilst in Spain do check the sticker but normally it should be compliant.
• There is no sticker system in place for foreign registered vehicles which are therefore not authorised to enter the LEZ unless there is an applicable exception. Sometimes foreign vehicles are explicitly exempted though more commonly staying in a hotel or using a public car park is the 'work around'.

A small note of caution: if your rental car is Portuguese or French the rules for foreign vehicles apply - if you're planning a Spain and Portugal cross-border self-drive holiday or picking up the car in Biarritz or Perpignan - If the car does not have a Spanish DGT environmental sticker, it will be treated as a foreign vehicle.

In that case, the rules are usually the same as for a car brought from the UK or Ireland. This does not need to be a problem, but you should check the Low Emission Zone rules for the city you are visiting.

As a general rule, if you are driving a foreign-registered vehicle, use hotel parking or a public car park and avoid driving around city centres looking for street parking.

For a smooth trip, we recommend the following:

• Check the Low Emission Zone rules for each city before you arrive.
• Use public car parks rather than street parking in city centres.
• Avoid driving aimlessly inside historic centres or restricted zones.
• Take extra care in San Sebastián, where foreign vehicle rules are more specific.
• If you are using a Spanish rental car, check that it has a DGT environmental label.

Low Emission Zones can sound intimidating at first, but they are usually easy to manage with a little planning. For most self-drive holidays in northern Spain, the simplest solution is to park once, explore the city on foot, and enjoy the journey without worrying about urban traffic rules.

We do our best to interpret the Low Emission Zone regulations and restrictions for each city accurately, and to keep the information on this page as up to date as possible. However, these rules are set and managed locally, and they may change at short notice.

For this reason, the information provided here is intended as general guidance only. We cannot accept liability for any errors, omissions, changes to local regulations, fines, penalties, access restrictions, or other consequences arising from reliance on this information.

Before travelling, clients should always check the latest official information from the relevant local government or city council for each destination they plan to visit.

When we learned that the details of Spain’s Low Emission Zones would be determined by each individual city, with no single national system or environmental sticker for foreign-registered vehicles, we must admit to having a few sleepless nights.

The original implementation deadline was 1 January 2023, but progress has been gradual and some cities have yet to introduce their local schemes fully. We have followed each development closely, focusing on how the regulations affect our clients travelling through northern Spain by car.

We are pleased to report that, in general, the news is good. Most cities have introduced practical arrangements or exemptions that allow visitors with foreign-registered vehicles to access hotels and public car parks without unnecessary difficulty.

Below is our city-by-city guide to Low Emission Zones in northern Spain:

Pontevedra and Logroño have Low Emission Zones in place at the time of writing we are investigating the details and will publish our own guides soon.

Should you require more infprmation in teh meantime please contact us and we'll do our best to help.

Santiago de Compostela, Gijón and Burgos have yet to implement their Low Emission Zones so for the time being there are no restrictions.

We're watching the situation closely and will add the guides as soon as we have the details.

As you've seen we take our itinerary planning very seriously and go out of our way to make sure you avoid the pitfalls and get the maximum enjoyment out of your trip, whether you're bringing your own car on the ferry or flying down and travelling with a rental car. Generally our tours are a mix of town and country, but even if you're not staying in the cities we assume you may want to visit, so we always include the appropriate LEZ guidelines in our regional guides and driving instructions.

For those bringing their own car on the ferry it usually makes more sense to choose a longer itinerary, at least 10 days to two weeks. Our Grand Tour of Northern Spain or the Santander to Santiago an back tours are a good place to start or head east for a Western Pyrenees Circular Tour or the Costa Brava Run which goes all the way to the Mediterranean and back.

Those same tours can be enjoyed as fly-drive itineraries but we also have shorter tours such as Picos de Europa and North Spain Coast or Bilbao - Rioja - Coastal Cantabria which are compact yet give a good taste of north Spain in a shorter time. 

Whichever tour you choose the suggested itineraries on our website are purely suggestions and we are more than happy to combine and adapt them to make the northern Spain road trip of your dreams.

Contact us - or give us a call on 01223 328721 to discuss your requirements - we're more than happy to combine and adapt the tours to suit your personal needs and ensure you get the perfect north Spain itinerary!