The Government backtracks on plan to prohibit diesel and unleaded cars by 2040

THE Spanish government’s shock plan to commit to a full green energy transition, prohibiting the sale of diesel and petrol cars by 2040, has been downplayed. 
After it was made public knowledge that the Government in Spain intended to eliminate the sale of combustion engine vehicles by 2040, many agencies, associations and manufacturers vocally expressed their disapproval to the measure.
The Spanish government has long supported the measure as a means making Spain more environmentally friendly.
However, the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, along with the Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, have played down this measure to eliminate cars which require fossil fuels to function.
The ministers have distanced themselves from the measure, branding it a “debate” and a proposal rather than a concrete plan in recent rhetoric.
The plans to be petrol and diesel free by 2040 have been demoted to ‘non-final text’ status, giving the government room to modify and soften the proposed prohibitions.
This could signal a revised period for the phasing out of the combustion engine from the Spanish market, allowing the sale of the combustion engine to survive in Spain beyond 2040.
However, the idea of ​​decarbonising cities is becoming more and more popular in Europe.
Although the idea of compulsory eradication of the combustion engine is currently being met with harsh criticism, with the recent tax increases on diesel fuels and pollution restrictions being enforced on all modern cars, it will likely become increasingly difficult to own vehicles in Spain which are not powered solely by electricity.