Royal Decree 953/2026 tightens the accreditation of low emission zones: without these five documents, the LEZ will not be deemed implemented

Royal Decree 953/2026, of 4 November, published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado (Official State Gazette) on Friday 6 November 2026, amends article 10.3 of Royal Decree 1052/2022, of 27 December, which regulates low emission zones (LEZs). The measure, approved by the Council of Ministers at its meeting of 3 November 2026, responds to a specific diagnosis: during the time Royal Decree 1052/2022 has been in force, its own preamble states, "the need to establish criteria guaranteeing the implementation of the rule" has become apparent, so that the establishment of an LEZ is accompanied by additional measures ensuring its real effectiveness.

The practical consequence is direct: from the entry into force of the royal decree on 26 November 2026, the implementation of a low emission zone will only be deemed duly accredited once the local authority has submitted a closed set of five documents to the state and regional administrations. Until that documentation arrives, the LEZ will not be considered properly implemented.

What Royal Decree 1052/2022 regulates, the rule now amended

Royal Decree 1052/2022, of 27 December, is the basic regulation setting the minimum requirements for low emission zones established by local authorities, implementing article 14.3 of Law 7/2021, of 20 May, on climate change and energy transition. Its chapter II, headed "Objectives and content", regulates the delimitation and design of the zones, the restrictions on vehicle access, circulation and parking according to environmental classification, integration with other planning instruments, air quality, the promotion of modal shift, energy efficiency and noise, the minimum content of the implementation project and the review deadlines.

The underlying obligation comes from Law 7/2021: article 14.3 requires "municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants and island territories" to adopt sustainable urban mobility plans before 2023, including at a minimum "the establishment of low emission zones before 2023". The same rule extends to municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants where the limit values for pollutants regulated in Royal Decree 102/2011, of 28 January, on air quality improvement, are exceeded. The law itself defines a low emission zone as the area delimited by a public administration, of a continuous nature, within its territory, in which restrictions on vehicle access, circulation and parking apply to improve air quality and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, according to the classification of vehicles by emission level laid down in the General Vehicle Regulations.

The new one-month reporting duty

The single article of Royal Decree 953/2026 replaces paragraph 3 of article 10 of Royal Decree 1052/2022. The new text keeps as its first obligation that local authorities report to the competent Deputy Directorate-General for air quality of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge and to the competent regional environmental body on the LEZs established in their territory. That report must include, at a minimum, the delimitation and surface area of the zone, the measures adopted and their implementation timetable, and the results of the mandatory monitoring indicators, and must be submitted within a maximum of one month from the establishment of the zone.

The five documents accrediting implementation

The core novelty lies in the second paragraph of the provision, which lists in a closed enumeration the documentation that local authorities must submit "for the purposes of properly justifying its implementation". The literal text of the new article 10.3, in this part, provides:

"For the purposes of properly justifying its implementation, local authorities shall submit to the Deputy Directorate-General competent for air quality of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, and to the competent regional environmental body: a) The current municipal regulations establishing the LEZ regime, within one month of their entry into force. b) Documentation evidencing the effective entry into force of the regime of prohibitions or restrictions on vehicle access, circulation and parking according to the polluting potential of vehicles. c) Documentation evidencing the effective application of the access control, monitoring and follow-up system. d) Integration with the National Access Point for Traffic and Mobility of the Directorate-General for Traffic. e) Documentation evidencing the effective application of the sanctioning regime, which shall exclude any transitional warning system that may previously have been contemplated."

Each of the five items targets a known weak point in LEZ implementation: ordinances approved but not published, restrictions announced but not applied, access control systems not deployed, no connection with the DGT's National Access Point for Traffic and Mobility (the official mobility data repository) and, above all, "warning" periods without real sanctions that drag on indefinitely. Letter e) expressly closes that door: the documentation of the sanctioning regime "shall exclude any transitional warning system".

The consequence: no paperwork, no LEZ

The closing paragraph of the new paragraph is categorical: "Until such documentation is received, the LEZ shall not be considered properly implemented." The royal decree therefore does not create a new sanction or a formal requirement procedure, but a qualification rule: the administratively relevant existence of the LEZ is conditional on the submission of the accrediting documentation. For state and regional monitoring purposes (and, foreseeably, for assessing compliance with Law 7/2021), an unaccredited zone does not count as implemented.

Procedure, competence and entry into force

The amendment was processed with public consultation and information under article 26.6 of Law 50/1997, of 27 November, on the Government, with a hearing for the autonomous communities, the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, local authorities and the affected sectors; it was reported on by the Environmental Advisory Council under article 19.2.a) of Law 27/2006, and received the competence report of the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory. The enabling authority rests on the sixth final provision of Law 7/2021 and on the exclusive state competence for basic environmental protection legislation under article 149.1.23 of the Constitution.

The royal decree sets no express entry-into-force date. In the absence of a specific provision, the general rule of article 2 of the Civil Code applies, setting the entry into force of statutes twenty days after official publication: the text will therefore apply from 26 November 2026.

What law firms should review

For the municipalities concerned (and for the firms advising them) the new scenario calls for three immediate checks. First, whether the LEZ ordinance or municipal regulation is in force and published, and whether it has already been submitted within the one-month period required by letter a). Second, whether documentary evidence exists that the restrictions are actually applied: the access control, monitoring and follow-up system being operational, and the connection with the DGT's National Access Point. And third, whether the sanctioning regime is genuinely applied or remains in a phase of mere warnings, a situation the royal decree no longer accepts as accredited implementation. It is also worth remembering that Law 7/2021 requires a prior report from the regional environmental body for any measure involving a regression of existing low emission zones, so rolling back is not a free path either.

Frequently asked questions

Which municipalities are required to have a low emission zone?

Municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants and island territories, under article 14.3 of Law 7/2021; also those with more than 20,000 inhabitants where the pollutant limit values of Royal Decree 102/2011 are exceeded.

What happens if a municipality does not submit the documentation required by RD 953/2026?

The text itself provides that, until it is received, the low emission zone will not be considered properly implemented, with no additional procedure needed.

From when does Royal Decree 953/2026 apply?

It sets no express date; under the general rule of article 2 of the Civil Code, it applies twenty days after its publication in the BOE, that is, from 26 November 2026.

Sources

• Royal Decree 953/2026, of 4 November (BOE-A-2026-23268)
• Law 7/2021, of 20 May, on climate change and energy transition (consolidated text)