Madrid City Center Reopens to Car Traffic Sparking Protests

(Bloomberg) -- Spaniards can again drive through central Madrid without fear of punishment after the city's new government suspended fines for entering a restricted zone for cars.

The city hall announced last week a moratorium on fines levied for entering the 4.7 square kilometer (1.8 square-mile) zone through Sept. 30. The suspension of penalties took effect Monday.

The decision to hold off on fining motorists effectively ends -- at least temporarily -- the attempt by the left-wing administration of former Mayor Manuela Carmena to restrict vehicle access to the city center in a bid to combat pollution and congestion. Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, the new mayor from the conservative People's Party following elections held in May, had pledged to do away with the traffic restriction area she put in place last year.

For now the official line is that Carmena's project has not formally been ended. “It's just a moratorium on sanctions,” Borja Carabante, the head of Madrid's environment and mobility department, said in a statement last week.

Almost 20 Greenpeace activists halted traffic in Alcala street, one of the main avenues crossing the city center, just a few meters away from the city hall, newspaper El Pais reported. Activists chained themselves and blocked the street for more than one hour, the newspaper said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Gualtieri in Madrid at tgualtieri@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Charles Penty at cpenty@bloomberg.net, Todd White

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