When you purchase a new home in Spain with Hamiltons, you may also be interested in buying a Spanish car and obtaining a Spanish driving license. However, it's important to be aware of new regulations that require drivers to display eco stickers to enter low emission areas.
To reduce our carbon footprint, Spain is gradually introducing Low Emission Zones in towns and cities across the country. Eco-Stickers are now available for purchase at your local post office for only 5 euros. We strongly recommend obtaining one if you're driving a Spanish-registered vehicle to avoid penalties.
The sticker is adhesive and has a diameter of 97mm for cars and vans and an 87mm version for motorcycles.
Four types of badges are issued based on a vehicle's polluting potential:
Distintivo cero emisiones (zero emissions label, colored blue) applies to electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles with a minimum range of up to 40 km, and full cell vehicles.
Distintivo eco (eco badge, colored green and blue) applies to plug-in hybrid vehicles with a range of less than 40 km, non-plug in hybrid vehicles, vehicles powered by natural gas, and vehicles powered by liquefied petroleum gas.
Distintivo C (green sticker) applies to passenger cars and light petrol vans registered from January 2006, passenger cars and light diesel vans registered from 2014, and vehicles with more than 8 seats and heavy, petrol or diesel, registered from 2014.
Distintivo B (yellow sticker) applies to passenger cars and light petrol vans registered from January 2000, diesel passenger cars and light vans registered from January 2006, and vehicles with more than 8 seats and heavy petrol or diesel registered from 2005. The classification favors environmentally friendly vehicles during periods of high pollution when some municipalities may restrict traffic and only allow those vehicles with the lowest emissions to circulate.
Entering a Low Emission Zone without the relevant sticker may result in a fine. If you need to check what category your vehicle falls into, the DGT has an online tool where you can input your vehicle registration number and click "consultar". This will tell you the category you fall into. To obtain your eco sticker from your local post office you will need to take your vehicle log book and photo identification.
A guide from your team at Hamiltons Real Estate (formally Hamiltons of London) - 2023
