Malaga has the second most polluted street in Spain according to Ecologista en Acción

Malaga is home to the second most nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) polluted street in Spain, according to the latest ranking published by the environmental organisation Ecologistas en Acción, based on official data from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition.

The report highlights that Avenida Juan XXIII in Malaga recorded an annual average of 31 micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m³) of NO₂ in 2025, making it the second most polluted location in the national ranking. Only Madrid’s Plaza Elíptica, with 32 μg/m³, registers higher levels. The third position goes to another Andalusian city: Granada Norte in Granada, with 30 μg/m³.

Values far exceed what is expected World Health Organisation’s recommended annual guideline of 10 μg/m³ and the European Union’s more ambitious target of 20 μg/m³ set for 2030. They are, however, outside of the Low Emission Zone of Malaga city and still well below the current (and widely criticised as outdated) EU legal limit of 40 μg/m³.

According to the Ecologistas en Acción analysis, which covers 18 major and medium-sized Spanish cities, only Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Valladolid manage to stay at or below the future 2030 EU target of 20 μg/m³, two cities that are perhaps the windiest in the whole of Spain.

Sources of pollution

Nitrogen dioxide, a yellowish toxic gas, is produced by diesel engines and motor vehicles. Inhaled, nitrogen dioxide reaches the deepest part of the lungs and impairs immunity. It also reduces resistance to respiratory infection. The latest European Environment Agency report estimates that NO₂ was responsible for 4,100 premature deaths in Spain in 2023.

Despite these alarming figures, the air quality in Malaga and throughout Spain has vastly improved over the last decade. In 2015, Malaga’s NO₂ levels stood at 40 μg/m³ (exactly at the current EU limit). The city remained around this value until 2018 (39 μg/m³), after which a steady decline began, reaching a low of 29 μg/m³ in 2021.

Since then the trend has been irregular: levels rose to 33 μg/m³ in 2022 before dropping again by one microgram per year in both 2023 and 2024, resulting in the 2025 average of 31 μg/m³.

The historical significance of the national worst record remains 80 μg/m³Measured in Valencia, 1996. Since then, the highest values have been markedly reduced due to successive green policy. Twenty years later, in 2016, the national peak was 56 μg/m³ (still in Madrid), and by 2025 the worst reading had fallen to 32 μg/m³, again in the capital.

Why is this area worse than others

What do Avenida Juan XXIII in Malaga and Plaza Elíptica in Madrid have in common? Both streets are working-class traditional areas, with an apparent higher proportion of older cars. This is because they were built at a time when diesel was 95 per cent the most popular vehicle in Spain. They are also close to industrial zones and are both protected from wind by the architecture. Both are also important axes for other parts of the city. This leads to an increase in through traffic.

Ecologistas en Acción calls for tougher action.

The environmental group considers the levels currently “inacceptable”, and urges the Ministry led by Sara Aagesen implement “decisive” measures. The main demands include:

• Reduce the number of cars in urban areas
• Properly enforced Low Emission Zones (Zonas de Bajas Emisiones (ZBEs))
• The activation of specific protocol to combat pollution incidents

Ecologistas en Acción stresses that, while progress has been made, the current pace is insufficient to meet health-based air quality targets in the near future.