How to get the Spanish environmental label for my car?

Spain's Climate Change Law has set 2023 as the deadline for municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants to implement their Low Emission Zones (LEZs). This, in practice, means that 149 towns and cities across Spain will need to define an area in their urban centres and special protection areas where the most polluting vehicles will not be allowed to circulate. 

The DGT environmental label in Malaga

The places whose urban centres will be affected in the province of Malaga are Benalmadena, Estepona, Mijas, Fuengirola, Malaga city, Marbella, Torremolinos and Velez-Malaga.

The Low Emission Zone (LEZ) will come into force in the centre of Malaga on 1 January 2024. As of today, there is no news from the rest of the affected municipalities in Malaga, nor news published in the media about the LEZs that will be regulated to traffic.

The latest update of the Law on Traffic and Road Safety includes, for the first time, fines for drivers who do not respect the restrictions of the road traffic regulations. Low Emission Zones (LEZs) and accessing the enclosed areas with a vehicle that is not permitted. The penalty is 200 euros (without loss of points), although it can be reduced to 100 euros if paid on time (known as a discount for prompt payment).

DGT labels for Spanish plates

A few years ago, the Spanish government sent out free environmental stickers to more than 15 million drivers, but if you want the sticker now, you need to go through one of the following official channels.

• Email. It can be ordered in physical offices and on the website.
  • Post OfficesWith ID card and driving licence. Price: five euros
  • Correos website. It costs five euros plus 2.99 euros for postage and packing. The ID card and the vehicle registration certificate must also be scanned in.
• Authorised workshops. The Spanish Confederation of Automotive Repair Shops and Related Industries (CETRAA) offers the DGT's environmental badge sales service in its network of workshops. The price is the same as at Correos: five euros.
• Norauto dealersThe network of workshops and specialised shops Norauto has obtained authorisation to sell the environmental stickers. The price is the same as at the post office and authorised workshops: five euros.
• Stickers-DGT.com. Traffic has created a specific website for the sale of environmental stickers. To get it you have to enter the number plate and send scanned ID card, driving licence and driving licence.
  In this channel, the price per sticker is 6.5 euros, shipping included, and you can pay by credit card or PayPal. The delivery time is less than 15 days.
• Ganvam. The Asociación Nacional de Vehículos a Motor, Reparación y Recambios (GANVAM) has different rates distinguishing between members and non-members and depending on the number of stickers ordered: nine euros each if you order less than four and six euros if you order at least 50 stickers. For non-members, two euros more

How to get the Spanish environmental label with a foreign registration plate

If you are driving in Spain with a foreign-registered car and you need to access a Low Emission Zone (LEZ), it is easier than it seems. Driving restrictions are affecting more and more cities in Spain as well as in other countries (France, Germany, Denmark, Austria, etc. are some examples). 

We therefore have a lot of questions about this type of issue, and One of them is related to vehicles with foreign number plates. The two most common questions are: can they drive in Spain's Low Emission Zones (LEZs) and is there a requirement to do so?

It may be the case that you live in another European country and you come to Spain with your foreign-registered car on holiday or simply to visit a friend or relative. Another case could be that you buy a car in another country, such as Germany for example, and you have no choice but to enter a Low Emission Zone before you can change the number plate. In both cases, it is important for you to know that in Spain it is not possible to obtain the environmental label of the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) for cars with foreign number plates.

By contrast, in other countries, such as France or Germany, in order to access the Low Emission Zones of their cities, it is compulsory to acquire their environmental badge and place it on the car.; in this other news from the car magazine Autofacil, they explain how you can buy these stickers in those countries.

Stickers for cars with foreign number plates

In Spainas indicated above, the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) does not allow the purchase of environmental stickers to be affixed to foreign-registered cars, however, does allow you to drive in Low Emission Zones with the country's road mark.

For this reason, the DGT offers on its website tables showing the equivalence of the German, Austrian, Danish and French labels with the Spanish sticker.. In this way, you can find out which traffic restrictions will affect you and drive around the Low Emission Zones (LEZ) in Spanish cities without any problems with your country's environmental label.

¿What the DGT labels look like?

The environmental label of the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) is used to classify vehicles according to the pollution they emit.. In Spain there are four such labels:

Label B

This is the environmental label that applies to all petrol vehicles registered from 1 January 2001 or complying with the Euro III anti-pollution standard; and all diesel vehicles registered from 1 January 2006 or complying with the Euro IV and Euro V standards.

Label C

All petrol vehicles registered since 1 January 2006 or complying with Euro IV, Euro V or Euro VI standards; and all diesel vehicles registered from 1 September 2015 or complying with Euro VI.

Label Eco

This sticker is for all hybrid or plug-in hybrid vehicles with an electric range of less than 40 km; those powered by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and which also meet the requirements of the C label.

Label 0 Emissions

This is the environmental sticker awarded to all electrified vehicles with an electric range of more than 40 km, whether they are pure electric, plug-in hybrid or range-extended electric vehicles.

A fifth group should be added, that of models that, due to their age and emissions, are not included in the Traffic environmental classification. This group includes vehicles manufactured after January 2020, diesel vehicles registered before 2006 and petrol vehicles registered before 2000. For some time now, although it is not an official term, this group has been known as A-vehicles, as well as those vehicles powered by hydrogen or fuel cells.

Also for motorbikes

Although this was not the case at the beginning, months after its entry into force, the DGT decided that motorbikes should also be allowed to be deserved environmental cataloguing.

The labels on motorbikes are the same as those on passenger cars:

• ZeroCategory for electric motorbikes, BEVs, REEVs, and PHEVs (plug-in hybrids with an electric range greater than 40 km).
• EcoElectric vehicles with a range of less than 40 km.
• cMotorbikes approved to Euro 4 and Euro 3 standards.
• BMotorbikes type-approved to Euro 2 standards.