Paying to park your car on the street has become a routine for millions of Spaniards. In both large cities and small urban centers it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a free parking space on public roads. Municipal policies are converging towards a new sustainable mobility model by promoting public transport and micromobility, while at the same time taxing the use of private vehicles with the proliferation of regulated parking spaces.
In the early 1980s, Madrid and Barcelona took the lead with the implementation of the first blue zones in the country. They then became popular throughout Spain, spreading to other cities and autonomous communities. Decades later, so-called green zones emerged to provide local residents with preferential access to public parking spaces, as they could park their vehicles without a time limit in exchange for a modest amount of money.
The regulated parking service (SER) goes far beyond blue zones and green zones, as well as loading and unloading areas. In recent years, new forms of parking regulation have appeared aimed at facilitating the rotation of parking spaces.
In Madrid, for example, there are certain areas of the urban center marked with orange and blue stripes, and others painted with white and blue lines. The former are usually located near transport interchanges or public transport stations and parking is allowed for up to a maximum of 12 hours. Parking spaces marked with white and blue lines are considered high turnover and you can only park in them for a maximum of 45 minutes.
It is more common to find regulated parking areas delimited with orange lines. These SER squares are popularly known as the orange zone and are beginning to expand throughout different parts of Spain. In some municipalities they fulfill the same function as blue zones or green zones, they simply change the color of the area that delimits those parking spaces, but other municipalities give them a different use.
The Rubí City Council, in the province of Barcelona, has had an orange zone for three years. On February 1, 2021, new orange zone parking spaces were launched that replaced blue ones. In this way, users no longer have to pay to park there, but parking is limited to 90 minutes from Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in order to boost local commerce.
The Rubí town council explains on its website that the orange zone implemented in the municipality makes it possible to boost commerce in the neighborhood by increasing the parking supply for making purchases or quick transactions. Likewise, it prevents cars from being parked for long periods in central areas and reduces the volume of traffic with vehicles traveling through the streets in search of a place to park.
As each city council establishes particular regulations for parking in the orange zone, it is best to consult in advance about the use they give to these spaces, since they may be reserved only for residents. This is the use that the City Council of Cunit (Tarragona) gives to the orange zone that it implemented last summer in the maritime neighborhood, and which this year brings new features.
Although, until now, the owner of a second residence was allowed to obtain a subscription to park a single car, starting this summer he will be able to park two vehicles without the need for the ownership of the property and the car to coincide.
