Sagunto gives final approval to its low-emission zones ordinance
Sagunto's city council has given final approval to the ordinance on low-emission zones (ZBE), which starts an informational phase in September and will be fully in force by 2033, with separate rings for Sagunto and Puerto de Sagunto.
Sagunto's town council gave final approval this Thursday to the ordinance regulating the city's low-emission zones (ZBE), after resolving objections raised during the public comment period. The rules will start with a purely informational phase from September and will not be fully in force until January 2033. The system is built around two concentric rings -an inner one, more restrictive, and an outer one- in both Sagunto's town centre and Puerto de Sagunto, the coastal district.
In Sagunto, the inner ring matches the existing restricted-access area of Ciutat Vella (the old town), while the outer ring is bounded by Avenida Sants de la Pedra to the west and north, Avenida del País Valencià to the east, and Calle Mayor and Calle de la Escuela to the south. In Puerto de Sagunto, the inner ring covers 9 d'Octubre, Sindicalista Juan Torres Casado, Avenida del Mediterráneo, Avenida Delta del Riu, Cabo de Palos, Isla de Menorca, Sant Vicent and Progreso streets, while the outer ring runs along the CV-320 road, Avenida Sindicalista Miguel Lluch, Avenida 3 de Abril, Avenida América, Avenida Polígono A, Avenida del Mediterráneo, Avenida Delta del Riu, Calle Sierra Calderona, the CV-321 road and Avenida Corona de Aragón.
The rollout starts in September with the informational phase for Sagunto's inner ring, running until November; Puerto de Sagunto's inner ring follows between June and September 2027. During these phases there will be no fines, only warnings sent to owners of the most polluting vehicles. Fines will only begin once each informational phase ends, targeting vehicles without the required environmental label and no valid exemption. The rule arrives later than Spain's own deadline: Law 7/2021 on climate change and energy transition required municipalities with over 50,000 residents, like Sagunto, to have their own low-emission zone approved before 2023.
The labels that control access -CERO (zero-emission), ECO, C and B, issued by Spain's traffic authority (DGT)- classify vehicles by their nitrogen oxide and PM10 particle emissions. Inside the inner rings, with limited exceptions, only CERO-label cars will be allowed into Ciutat Vella, and CERO or ECO-label cars into Puerto de Sagunto's inner ring, alongside vehicles registered in the municipality itself. The outer rings will not affect vehicles with tax domicile in Sagunto at all; those registered elsewhere in Valencia province can keep entering until the end of 2030, and those from the wider Camp de Morvedre district until the end of 2032. Outside both rings, traffic remains free for every vehicle.
The final ordinance passed with votes in favour from PSPV-PSOE and EU-Podem, against from PP, IP and Vox, and an abstention from Compromís per Sagunt -a slightly tighter vote than its initial approval at the December 2025 plenary session, when IP and Compromís had abstained rather than voting against. Although Sagunto currently meets existing pollution limits, the council argues the ZBE prepares the city for the stricter air-quality standards being pushed by the European Union and the World Health Organization.
According to aytosagunto.es and elperiodic.com, with additional background from Wikipedia on Spain's low-emission zone regulations.