In the context of the Global Mobility Call (GMC), the head of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (MITMA) referred to the incentives managed by the autonomous regions.
Both Communities, as well as Municipalities and companies, share the responsibility of transforming mobility.
“Out of conviction and because they already have been allocated or transferred 3.6 billion euros to make it possible,” says the acting minister, Raquel Sánchez Jiménez in her opening speech.
Furthermore, she emphasizes that it is necessary for the receiving Administrations of these funds “to contribute to accelerating their execution” and ensure that this money reaches the real economy.
In this regard, Sánchez highlights the importance of horizontal governance based on dialogue and collaboration.
“This is not the appropriate field for partisan struggle, but for the defense of the general interest,” she asserts.
She is referring to the importance of local authorities working to accelerate the execution of investments in sustainable mobility.
These investments are funded through the funds of the European Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan, whose purpose is to stimulate the purchase of electric vehicles and install charging infrastructure.
The program is part of the Next Generation EU Recovery Fund and is part of the 2030 Secure, Sustainable, and Connected Mobility Strategy.
These measures aim to promote healthier urban environments and foster more sustainable transportation systems.
To achieve this, the implementation of Low Emission Zones (LEZ) has been funded and reinforced those that are already in operation.
The Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition has required 149 municipalities to create a LEZ by January 2024.
However, so far, only 12 cities have implemented these areas that restrict access to polluting vehicles.
Among them are Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Zaragoza, Cordoba, A Coruña, Pontevedra, Pamplona, Badalona, Sant Cugat del Vallés, and L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.
Recently, MITMA has notified around 200 municipalities about the need to implement LEZs.
Otherwise, they will be required to repay the aid granted through the funds of the Next Generation EU program, which amount to a total of 1.5 billion euros.
It is worth noting that the Royal Decree published by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge states that the design of the LEZ model depends on the decision of each municipality.
Therefore, the money must be used to finance projects that contribute to the operation of these zones, as well as more than 1,000 actions aimed at decarbonizing and digitizing urban mobility.
Therefore, the MITMA minister emphasized that the ecological transition in the field of mobility is not a whim of this Government but represents a global and European commitment.
And, in turn, it is necessary to address the uncertainties that this change in the mode of travel generates in society.
The lack of charging infrastructure is one of the aspects that generates distrust in the population.
According to the Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers (ANFAC), the national territory has 22,760 charging points.
Of these, 6,704 are out of service, representing 23%, either due to being in poor condition, damaged, or not yet connected to the electrical distribution network.
According to ANFAC, the deployment rate continues to be lower than expected, and only 22% of the infrastructure has a power charge greater than 22 kW.
