Barcelona is the city of Spain with more motorcycles. Now the Generalitat considers limiting its circulation

Spain has a mobile park of 4,162,850 motorcycles. Of these, 22.8% are registered in Catalonia. In total, there are 947,895 motorcycles that circulate through the streets of the Autonomous Community, according to Statistics Institute of Catalonia.

The figure shows the enormous weight that the motorcycle represents In Catalonia. No other vehicle is so popular if compared to the total cars volume of the country. While motorcycles, as we said, exceed 20%, Catalonia has 13.8% of cars registered. Buses (14.5%) and vans and trucks (14.1%) are also far from the previous figure.

Of the almost million motorcycles that Catalonia has registered, 713,033 of them are counted in the province of Barcelona. Anyone who walks through the city can verify that it is a boiler of two -wheeled vehicles. According to RACC data of 2022in the city about 450,000 motorcycle displacements occur every day. AND Already in 2019 it was alert of the difficulties that the city had to park all two -wheeled vehicles that circulate through its streets.

For all of the above, the IMPULSE PLAN TO THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE 2025-2030 presented by the Generalitat de Catalunya herself in which a Reduction of combustion motorcycles with measures that facilitate their limitations. A plan that has been sold as the prohibition of motorcycles with combustion engines from 2030 (although this is not true) and that has raised blisters in the world of motorcycle who are considered discriminated against in front of any other type of vehicle.

What happened?

A controversial plan

Presented by the president of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Salvador Illa, and collected on the official website of the agency, the IMPULSE PLAN TO THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE 2025-2030 It has been presented as the master lines to be followed in the coming years to transform the Catalan mobile park and gradually clean the pollutant emissions of the same.

In that plan we can read initiatives such as TRIPPLY the penetration of electric vehicles In Catalonia to be at the middle levels of Europe, bend the number of public loaders (especially the rapids) and electrify 90% d the fleet of the Generalitat of Catalonia.

In the program, which has five key points of action, there is no talk at any time to remove vehicles from the circulation or references to the low emissions areas of the Catalan cities and their restrictions by environmental label. Tours, buses, trucks or vans are completely omitted in the aforementioned plan.

However, there is a clearly indicated type of vehicle: motorcycles.

Literally, the plan includes in its second point that it will work on the following:

“Promotion of the gradual limitation of combustion motorcycle. Parallel to the implementation of gradual restrictions on combustion motorcycles with environmental labels B and C, an industrial transition program will be established to promote the production, distribution and repair of electric motorcycles

Although from some media and on social networks it can be read that Catalonia will prohibit combustion motorcycles from 2030, the truth is that this is not true. There is no established date in which it is specified that these vehicles will not be able to circulate through the streets.

However, the warning that “the gradual limitation of combustion motorcycle” will be promoted, it gives an idea that the intentions of the Generalitat of Catalonia is to end motorcycles with environmental labeling B and C. Of course, Specifies that the intention is to promote the sale of motorcycles with cleaner labeling.

The measure is controversial because, as they point out from Anesdor (National Association of Companies of the Sector Two Wheels), in the program No mention is made to other types of vehicles such as cars, buses, vans or trucks. That despite the fact that motorcycles are not contemplated in the prohibition of combustion engines for vehicles that are still going (we will see if definitively) in the European Union from 2035.

They also emphasize that, at the moment, 58.1% of the motorcycles circulating in Spain have environmental labeling C. is another of the label paradoxes designed by the DGT. Collect in The confidential that the average data of Nox emissions of a Euro 5 motorcycle (DGT tag) reach 0.0156 gr/km.

However, they point out in the digital medium, the environmental labeling is controversial. A Euro 6 car emits, average 0.3137 gr/km of Nox. That is, they have the same sticker despite having contaminated much more. That if they do not have Soft hybridization that has a minimum impact on the accounts but automatically delivers the DGT echo label.

They also have Echo more polluting vehicles that the aforementioned motorcycles such as the CNG and LPG (0.0350 gr/km of NOX on average). Only gasoline hybrids They reflect better data but the difference is minimal (0.0133 gr/km of Nox).

That is, no one has forbidden that motorcycles with combustion engines can circulate in Catalonia but the intention of the Generalitat is to promote those actions that limit their movements and press so that consumers jump to electric vehicles.

Photo | Nan Zhou

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