Preliminary Draft of the Sustainable Mobility Law proposes a new model of mobility and transport

As part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), the Preliminary Draft of the Sustainable Mobility Law, which is being processed, is intended to implement the sustainable development, digitalization and innovation objectives promised by Spain to the European Commission.

It is an ambitious project since it pursues a change of the mobility and transport model which, together with sustainability, digitalization and innovation, emphasizes the social aspect and declares mobility and transport as a social right for the first time. It also indicates a change in public funding of infrastructure and transport and mobility expenses. Thus, it announces the amendment of numerous pieces of legislation such as the LOTT, the Workers’ Statute, the Local Finances Law or the Aviation Law, among others.

Due to their novel nature, we emphasize the following aspects of the above-mentioned preliminary draft:

• The creation of a kind of mobility sandbox which opts for testbeds for the development of mobility projects and automated and autonomous vehicles and last mile logistics;
• The introduction of a municipal charge (amending the Local Finances Law) available to local authorities for low-emission zones;
• The reform of the Workers’ Statute which introduces the duty to negotiate sustainable transport plans to promote work-related travel that is sustainable and “aimed at pursuing mobility solutions that boost collective transport, electric mobility, active mobility and shared or collaborative mobility, with a view to achieving the objectives of air quality and a reduction of emissions, as well as avoiding congestion and preventing accidents when commuting to work”; and
• Provision is made for the digitalization of the administrative control document required for public haulage, regulated in Order FOM/2861/2012, which must be digital from September 1, 2024.