Thirty in the City

The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, pointed out this week that the legal reform that limits the speed on streets with a single lane in each direction to 30 kilometres per hour “places Spain at the forefront of a global movement that, aligned with the Goals of Sustainable Development of the United Nations, wants our cities to be more humane, that our streets be streets of life and for life”.

On Tuesday, May 11, the law entered into force modifying the Reglamento General de Circulación and introduced various new features in the regulation of urban traffic.

One of the most important measures is the reduction of the generic traffic speed limit on urban roads from 50 to 30 kilometres per hour for those streets that have only one lane in each direction of movement. The objective is to reduce road accidents, especially those affecting the most vulnerable groups; guarantee the fluidity of trips made on the city’s main avenues, and reduce the negative impact of vehicle traffic on air quality in cities.

Grande-Marlaska accompanied the mayor of Valladolid, Óscar Puente, in the presentation of the information campaign promoted by the Valladolid municipal corporation on the occasion of the entry into force of the limitations, a campaign that is based on the slogan chosen by the General Directorate of Traffic with this same reason: ‘At 30 there is more life’.

Aligned with the UN

The Minister of the Interior explained that the reduction of the speed limit is not limited to seeking the reduction of road accidents, but is “one of the most important measures that Spain has approved in terms of mobility and road safety because it helps to build cities for its citizens, where the streets serve above all for living, it transforms our cities so that they are more humane”.

Grande-Marlaska recalled that the United Nations integrates road safety into its 2030 Agenda for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), specifically in areas related to climate action, gender equality, health and well-being, planning of sustainable cities and communities, quality education, infrastructure, responsible consumption and production, as well as the reduction of inequalities.

The United Nations has recommended the limitation of urban speed to 30 kilometres per hour in the Stockholm Declaration of February 2020, emanating from the Third World Road Safety Conference, and in the Resolution that the General Assembly approved on August 31, 2020 And on May 17, the Sixth World Week of the United Nations for Road Safety begins, convened with the slogan ‘Streets for life’ and the hashtag #Love30.