Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) records demonstrate a reduction in this atmospheric pollutant to less than half of what was reached in May 2019, dropping from 62 micrograms per cubic meter to 30 μg/m3. It is worth remembering that Madrid Central was already in effect that year.
With data as of the end of May this year, the capital would not only comply with the current European air quality directive, an achievement it has maintained for four consecutive years (from 2022 to 2025) thanks to the measures of the Madrid 360 Environmental Sustainability Strategy, but for the first time, 11 out of 24 stations would not exceed the limit set by the new European regulation, applicable from 2030 for NO2.
Madrid infringed, from 2010 to 2021, the NO2 thresholds established in the annual limit value of the current directive, with a maximum set at 40 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3). In the last decade, the worst year for air quality was 2017, when this threshold was exceeded in 15 out of the city's 24 stations. In 2018, the last reference year included in the European Court of Justice's condemnatory ruling against Spain for repeated non-compliance, it was exceeded in seven.
By 2030, the European Union has lowered the maximum NO2 from 40 μg/m3 to 20 μg/m3, a limit that would be met today by 11 out of the 24 stations. Another notable figure is that by May 2026, none of the network's points will exceed 30 μg/m3; last year, Plaza Elíptica reached 33 μg/m3 and Urbanización Embajada 32 μg/m3. Compared to 2019, 11 stations exceeded the 40 μg/m3 limit, with peaks of 62 μg/m3 recorded at Plaza Elíptica and 60 μg/m3 at Escuelas Aguirre.
