Madrid lifts air pollution traffic restrictions

AFTER just one day Madrid’s city council has deactivated the traffic restrictions that were put in place to alleviate pollution and high levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in the capital.

The restrictions included limiting the maximum speed of vehicles to 70 km/h on the M-30 and on the access roads to the city, in both directions.

But they will be lifted on Thursday following a favourable weather forecast from the state weather agency, Aemet.

However, the city council has said it is still recommended to use public transport as well as share the use of private vehicles.

The protocol was adopted yesterday after two monitoring stations recorded levels of nitrogen dioxide in excess of 180 micrograms/m3 for two consecutive hours.