Shopkeepers in Mijas Pueblo up in arms at low emission zone

The ACIM association does not understand why Las Lagunas and La Cala are not included and says the study carried out is not good enough

Lorena Cádiz / Neil Hesketh

Mijas

Friday, 28 March 2025 | Updated 30/03/2025 21:55h.

The local council's plans to meet European regulations and set up a low emission zone (LEZ) in Mijas Pueblo to exclude the most polluting vehicles has not gone down well with local shopkeepers and business owners.

They are upset that only the Pueblo has been included, and not areas such as Las Lagunas (the dense area adjoining Fuengirola) and La Cala de Mijas, and claim that the study to decide its boundaries has not been carried out by a sufficiently qualified company.

Last week, ACIM, the association that represents the tradespeople of Mijas, gathered 200 together to voice their concerns over the zone, which, if implemented, would see older cars whose owners did not have a business or did not live in the Pueblo excluded. Visitors whose cars did not meet low emission requirements would only be able to go to the Virgen de la Pena multistorey car park, which can frequently fill up.

Low emission rules

All municipalities in Spain with a population over 50,000 are required to carry out a study and set up a LEZ (known as a ZBE in Spanish) for their densest areas. Local councillors up to now have been dragging their feet, as, although Mijas has a population of more than 90,000, this is split between different, smaller areas, they have argued. Finally, they have opted just to bring restrictions in for the Pueblo.

The ACIM said, "We agree that the European regulations should be applied, but providing it is carried out by a serious company, with all the guarantees and legal measurements, where the corresponding studies indicate where these zones should be placed, and where it is really needed because of its pollution."

"Mijas Pueblo has some of the purest and cleanest air in the province. Our elders have always taught us that those with asthma should come to Mijas Pueblo for its clean air," continued the association. "This is why we are not going to allow them to bring down Mijas Pueblo with a purely political decision," it added.

Mijas council's proposal for its low emission zone includes the whole of the village centre. The plan, which is at consultation stage, says that all residents and business owners will be able to access the zone with any type of vehicle as well as two vehicles more for staff or family members.

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