The debate on low-emission zones reached the plenary session of the Madrid Assembly thanks to Vox, which made it one of its priority issues after the decision of the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid to remove low-emission zones emissions. Vox spokesperson in Madrid, Rocío Monasterio, asked Isabel Díaz Ayuso to urge Mayor Almeida to return the fines imposed in the center of Madrid and the president had to remind her that it is not the responsibility of the Community.
Ayuso took advantage of the debate to highlight his commitment to doubling aid to traders and residents affected by low-emission zones in the municipalities of the Community of Madrid.
“What we are going to do now is double the amount of this assistance for neighbors and merchants. I recognize that they are the most harmed by many of these regulations that do not take into account the prosperity or the daily lives of these families,” the president explained during the plenary session of the Assembly.
Ayuso specified that they would facilitate the scrapping of old vehicles, the purchase of new less polluting vehicles and access to transport subscriptions. He called these “positive policies” aimed at “improving air quality.” The president defends measures which “do not harm anyone”, neither freedom nor consumption, she said. Concretely, the Community of Madrid will launch a new line of assistance for the scrapping of vehicles without an environmental label.
“We agree to continue providing aid to rehabilitate buildings, to replace old boilers, to maintain the best public transport that exists in Spain, in the region, with greater use of public transport per capita. “We are expanding the metro network, we are doing it as much as possible,” Ayuso emphasized.
The regional president took the opportunity to criticize the “disastrous management” of the Cercanías network by the government, which has led, as she denounced, a million travelers per month to stop using this transport and opt for for private vehicles or the metro.
