The petition by Barcelona En Comú is formalized through a motion to the Ecology, Urban Planning, Mobility and Housing Commission of the City Council to determine the “reliability of the measurements” from the Air Quality Monitoring Station Network. This action comes hours after the government led by Jaume Collboni announced a new historic low in city pollution for 2025.
The results presented have generated controversy, as entities such as Eixample Respira and Ecologistes en Acció previously reported that traffic cuts on Comte d’Urgell street, due to the L8 construction works, could be masking the data from the station located on that road.
“"They are representative because the decrease in traffic has not been intense enough to alter or distort the data."
The First Deputy Mayor, Laia Bonet, defended the validity of the figures, assuring that the data recorded by the station are validated by the Generalitat and are “fully representative” of the reality. However, Bonet did acknowledge that 2% of the extraordinary reduction seen at this station could be motivated by the drop in mobility derived from the construction works.
In addition to the CSIC audit, the Comuns urge the consistory to present a new Air Quality Plan 2027 that complies with Decree 132/2024 of the Generalitat, approved on July 30. Despite the historic lows, carbon dioxide (NO2) data in Eixample and Gràcia – Sant Gervasi still exceed the levels that the European Union (EU) will require starting in 2030.
