Britons face huge fines when driving petrol and diesel vehicles in Spain under tough environmental rules

At present, seven of the 10 major cities have a LEZ, with requirements for 149 cities to restrict older vehicles from entering popular areas.

LEZ areas are where the most polluting vehicles are regulated and usually means that vehicles with higher emissions cannot enter the area.

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In some Low Emission Zones, the more polluting vehicles have to pay more than those with less emissions like hybrid and electric cars.

As a guide, the Spanish Government detailed that electric, hybrid, petrol cars and light commercials need to be Euro 4,5 or 6 to be LEZ compliant.

Meanwhile, diesel vehicles that are Euro 6 can be exempt from the LEZ fines and qualify for the environmental sticker.

Unlike in the UK, where the fines for breaching Clean Air Zones could set drivers back £120, in Spain, the penalty is much higher at £169.

To travel in the zones across Madrid and Barcelona drivers are required to have an official sticker on the rear window of a vehicle indicating its emission levels.

However, foreign vehicles are exempt from having the Low Emission Zone Stickers but will still need to be compliant with the rules.

Elsewhere in Mallorca, its capital Palma is set to introduce its own LEZ rules as early as next year.

The popular tourist city currently operates eco lanes which are for particularly low-emission and therefore environmentally friendly vehicles.

The environmental lane can only be used by vehicles that meet certain emission standards such as electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles or hydrogen cars.

Under the upcoming LEZ rules, the first phase will be rolled out in 2025 and 2027, during this time vehicles classified as Category A will be banned from entering the zone.

This includes all petrol vehicles registered before 2001 and diesel vehicles registered before 2006.

When operational the LEZ scheme will have 16 cameras in place to catch out drivers who travel in the zones.

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Drivers in Mallorca will need to have an environmental badge to show their vehicle classification for the LEZ scheme.