Barcelona’s Eixample and the ports of Barcelona and Tarragona are among the thirty areas of the peninsular territory that exceeded the limit values ??established by European regulations on air quality. This is indicated by the data from 780 official measuring stations installed throughout the Spanish State corresponding to the year 2022 compiled and released in a report by Ecologistas en Acción.
The Eixample atmospheric control station in Barcelona exceeded 42 micrograms per cubic meter of nitrogen dioxide NO2 in 2022 (annual average), when the established annual limit is 40 micrograms. NO2 is a polluting gas that is dangerous to health, generated largely in the emissions from the combustion of vehicles.
Thus, Barcelona’s Eixample was the only area in Spain that exceeded the limit set by European regulations for this pollutant, while Madrid equaled it (40 micrograms per cubic meter on an annual average). The European Court of Justice has already condemned the Kingdom of Spain for the “repeated and systematic breach” of the annual limit of NO2 in both cities for previous years.
For their part, some thirty atmospheric control stations in Spain exceeded the limit values ??for the other major air pollutant, PM10 solid particles (with a diameter of less than 10 microns). The ports of Barcelona and Tarragona are in this situation.
European regulations set daily limit values ??and average annual values, and both thresholds were exceeded in the case of these ports at this point.
Specifically, the Port of Barcelona (South Basin) exceeded 53 times the daily limit for PM10 particle pollution (a limit of 50 micrograms per cubic meter that cannot be exceeded more than 35 times a year) while the port of Tarragona (Dic de Llevant ) exceeded the daily limit value 83 times and even exceeded the annual average (40 micrograms per cubic meter).
In addition, some thirty stations throughout the Peninsula register values ??above what is allowed for this second pollutant. These contaminated areas (some of which have several black spots) are found in Almossora (Castellón), Níjar, Murcia, Granada), Málaga, Marbella, Bailén, Córdoba, Villanueva del Arzobispo (Jaén), Puertollano, Ciudad Real, north of Toledo, Avilés, the Gijón and Manlleu area, on the Vic plain, as well as the ports of Carboneras (in Almería) and Escombreras (Murcia).
However, the most serious situation of contamination by PM10 particles occurred in the Canary Islands, where the worst episode of suspended dust in recent years was recorded due to the haze, which is formed from the transport of sand from the African desert.
Globally, during 2022 the air quality in Spain has worsened compared to 2020 and 2021, with a significant increase in the levels of suspended particles (PM10 and PM2.5) and not so noticeable in the case of nitrogen dioxide ( NO2) and ozone in the lower layers of the atmosphere. Both contaminants did not reach the usual concentrations in years prior to the pandemic.
The result was that a total of 7.6 million people, or 16% of the total population, breathed polluted air in Spain, according to the limit and target values ??established for the main pollutants cited by current legislation.
“In other words, one in six Spaniards in 2022 breathed air that does not comply with current legal standards. This situation represents an increase of more than two million people affected compared to 2021”, says Miguel Ángel Ceballos, an expert from Ecologistas en Acción.
The surface exposed to pollution levels that damage the vegetation reached 95,000 km2, one fifth of the territory, the lowest figure in the last decade.
However, if the values ??recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) are taken into account, which are much stricter than the legal limits of the European directive (and which are more in line with adequate health protection), the result would be different. Under this consideration, in 2022 the entire Spanish population breathed air with levels of contamination higher than those recommended
Meanwhile, the EU is now discussing setting new legal standards by 2030 as part of the ongoing review process of air quality regulations. If these new values ??are taken as a reference, then four out of five Spaniards (80%) breathed in air in 2022 that would not comply with the new legal standards proposed by the European Union for the end of the decade-
And what is this uptick in pollution due to?
The year 2022 was very dry and the warmest in Spain since at least 1961. Atmospheric stability triggered episodes of particle pollution, mostly from North Africa. At the same time, the extreme heat in summer contributed to the increase in ozone, especially during the heat waves of June, July and August. “Climate change is confirmed as a determining factor in the worsening of episodes of poor air quality,” says Ceballos.
However, the essential factor to explain the rebound in air pollution during 2022 is the recovery of motorized mobility and economic activity prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The main source of pollution in urban areas, where most of the population is concentrated, “is motorized traffic,” recalls Ceballos. In certain industrial areas, air quality is decisively conditioned by these facilities (especially in Avilés and Gijón). Air and sea transport have a great impact on air quality around airports and ports, the report adds.
The pollutant that continued to present a greater extension and affect the population was one more year tropospheric ozone. During 2022, the frequency of exceeding legal and WHO standards has rebounded compared to the two years of the pandemic (2020 and 2021), although it is more than 20% below the average of those registered in the period 2012- 2019, throughout the State.
Coinciding with the heat waves in mid-June and especially in July, there were 220 exceedances of the information threshold (180 micrograms per cubic meter), as well as two exceedances of the Canary Islands alert threshold.
“Consequently, during the year 2022, with a strong general summer heat, almost the entire Spanish population and territory continued to be exposed to ozone concentrations that were dangerous to human and plant health,” says this organization.
Air quality improvement plans are mandatory under current legislation, but a dozen autonomous communities continue to fail to comply with their obligation to prepare them to reduce ozone in areas where legal targets are exceeded. At the request of Ecologistas en Acción, the courts of justice have condemned the inactivity of the governments of Castilla y León, Catalonia, the Valencian Community and Navarra.
The report states that “the only way to improve air quality in cities is to reduce motorized traffic, promote active pedestrian and cyclist mobility, and clean public transport.” It is also necessary to “promote energy savings, adopt the best industrial techniques available, close fossil fuel power plants, penalize diesel, reduce the use of airplanes, speed up the control area of ??maritime transport emissions in the Mediterranean Sea, and a moratorium on new livestock macro-farms”.
Despite the fact that the deadline for all cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants to establish low emission zones to improve air quality and mitigate climate change expired more than half a year ago, few have complied with this legal obligation, despite the abundant public funds that they are receiving for it. Ecologistas en Acción asks the new mayors to prioritize the health of their neighbors over unjustified electoral calculations.