December 30, 2016

There were 2 posts published on December 30, 2016 (this is page 1 of 1).

Spain, Part II

After a restless night, still not used to the time change, we awoke to start the day with a free walking tour of Madrid through New Tour. We met at Plaza Mayor and joined the English-version of the tour, led by our tour guide, Ramon Amoros.

Ramon, our Madrid tour guide

Ramon is a twenty-four year old Argentinian who has lived in Madrid for ten years, first coming to Madrid to study as an illustrator. When the Spanish economy tanked, he considered moving to Berlin but chose to stay in Spain. His brother suggested he take the tour guide gig and he has been doing it now for two years. He speaks fluent English and could easily pass as American. Leading tours is his only job and he is very good at it: a very smart, funny guy. His illustrations are quite impressive, too.
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Madrid bans half of cars from roads to fight air pollution | World news | The Guardian

Madrid’s city council has implemented restrictions on cars in an effort to combat persistent smog. While battling smog is a good thing, the measure does not restrict mopeds and motorcycles, which cause more smog than cars do and seem to me to be far more prevalent in the city.

Madrid has ordered half of most private cars off the roads on Thursday to tackle worsening air pollution, a first in Spain.

The restrictions will operate between 6.30am and 9pm. The city council said in a statement: “vehicles with even-number registration plates will be allowed to drive around on even-number days and cars with odd-number registration plates on odd-number days.”

The measure is activated when levels of harmful nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere go above 200 microgrammes per cubic metre in at least two measuring stations for two days running, and if the air is unlikely to clear imminently.

Source: Madrid bans half of cars from roads to fight air pollution | World news | The Guardian