Over fifty cities in Spain over air pollution levels

9 July 2007

MADRID – Fifty Spanish cities exceed government guidelines for air pollution, a study shows.

Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Seville are the worst offenders on the list compiled by the environmental ministry.

Only Palma de Mallorca, San Sebastian, Badajoz and Cartagena are within legal limits,  the Spanish daily El Pais reported.

The survey showed 89 percent of Spanish cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants exceed the legal pollution limits.

More than 17 million people are affected.

But the ministry says the number could be higher.

The reasons complicated but one of the chief culprits is the car – each household owns one vehicle and of those only 55 percent are diesel.

Some 16,000 people die each year from diseases related to pollution, according to a European Commission study.

In September, a new air quality law will be debated in parliament. This includes a plan to charge motorists whose cars produce ‘dirtier’ fuel.

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Subject: Spanish news