The Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia has yet to respond to the clarification request from the Málaga City Council regarding the ZBE ruling. The Council is awaiting the ruling to decide whether to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The final resolution on the Low Emission Zone (ZBE) of Málaga is being pushed further down the calendar. The Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) has still not responded to the clarification request submitted by the legal services of the Málaga City Council, a procedure that halts the deadline for appealing the ruling that annulled part of the ordinance. With August being a judicial holiday month, the response will not arrive before September.
The clarification of a ruling is a legal mechanism that allows for the correction of material, arithmetic, or drafting errors, but does not alter the substance of the decision. The Málaga City Council requested it to clear up doubts about the ruling, which declared it discriminatory to penalise only vehicles from outside the capital. While the TSJA does not make a statement, the City Council cannot present the cassation appeal to the Supreme Court, which would be the next step.
Once the clarification arrives, the local government team will have 30 working days to prepare the cassation appeal. Municipal sources estimate that the Supreme Court's resolution could take between six months and a year, according to the usual timelines of the justice system. The TSJA ruling, prompted by a Vox appeal, considers that the Málaga ordinance violates the principles of equality, free market, and free movement by treating vehicles registered in the capital differently from those in the rest of the province.
While the legal dispute continues, the Mobility Area maintains the sanctioning regime. In the first six months since its implementation, the ZBE cameras have fined 35,257 drivers of cars without an environmental label, according to data provided by the local government to the Con Málaga group. The amount of each fine is 200 euros, reduced to 100 for early payment, without loss of points. The estimated revenue ranges between 3.5 and 7 million euros.
The fear of fines has reduced traffic in central Málaga by 25,000 vehicles per day, according to municipal counts. The ordinance establishes a calendar of progressive restrictions: from 30 November 2024, penalties will extend to cars with a B label (the second most polluting) that pay road tax outside the capital. This differential treatment between local and non-local vehicles is at the core of the legal conflict.
The Vox group and Con Málaga have urged the City Council to temporarily suspend the fines to avoid harm to those penalised and the mass litigation that is expected. For now, the City Council maintains the current ordinance and continues to impose fines, awaiting the TSJA to clear the procedural path. The uncertainty affects thousands of drivers in the province, who do not know if their vehicles will be able to access the capital's centre in the future.
For the average citizen, the situation is confusing. Drivers registered in Málaga capital can drive without restrictions regardless of their car's label, while residents of other municipalities in the province are already banned from accessing with vehicles without an environmental label. From November, entry will also be prohibited for B label cars from outside the capital. If the TSJA ruling is confirmed, it would require the City Council to equalise the conditions for all vehicles, which could also imply restrictions for local ones.
The next milestone will be the TSJA's clarification, expected after the summer. From there, the City Council will decide whether to appeal to the Supreme Court, a route that would prolong the final decision until at least 2026. In the meantime, the cameras continue to issue fines and drivers remain in suspense.
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