Madrid has only two special-protection low emission zones, and the second one is not in the old town. The Carabanchel district covers 1,405 hectares across 7 neighbourhoods — Comillas, Opañel, San Isidro, Vista Alegre, Puerta Bonita, Buenavista and Abrantes — none of them called Carabanchel, and three of them fall inside the Plaza Elíptica zone, which bars unlabelled cars even from a stretch of the A-42 motorway.
What is the Plaza Elíptica zone and which Carabanchel neighbourhoods does it cover? One of Madrid’s 2 special-protection zones, and the only one outside the centre. In Carabanchel it covers Abrantes, Opañel and Comillas, completed by Moscardó and Zofío in the Usera district. It bars class A vehicles, those with no label, including the A-42 stretch.
Carabanchel is one of Madrid’s twenty-one districts, with seven neighbourhoods delimited in their present form in 1987. What marks it out on the regulatory map is not its size but sharing with Usera the only special-protection perimeter that exists outside the city centre.
What this means if you are driving through
This is the practical consequence, and it applies to anyone crossing the south of the city rather than only to people stopping here.
Vehicles in environmental class A, meaning those with no DGT label, are barred from entering and circulating inside the perimeter, including the stretch of the A-42 motorway, subject to certain exceptions. Residents of the five affected neighbourhoods have an access permit process of their own; a hire car does not, which is covered in renting a car and Madrid’s low emission zone and driving into Madrid’s low emission zones.
A perimeter split between two districts
The boundary that matters here is not the district boundary, which is what catches people out.
The Plaza Elíptica zone covers Abrantes, Opañel and Comillas in Carabanchel and Moscardó and Zofío in Usera. It is delimited street by street, with Avenida de Abrantes, Avenida de Oporto and Vía Lusitana among the axes closing it. The distinction between the two zone types is in Madrid’s low emission zones explained, and the neighbouring district in the Usera district guide.
Why the zone exists here
The reason is measured rather than general, which is why the perimeter follows streets instead of administrative units.
Plaza Elíptica and its surroundings hold the worst nitrogen dioxide records in the history of the municipal monitoring network, and in 2020 its station was the only one in Madrid to breach the annual limit set by European directive.
The seven neighbourhoods by size
The internal spread is among the widest in Madrid, and one neighbourhood is responsible for it.
| Neighbourhood | Code | Area |
|---|---|---|
| Comillas | 111 | 66.6 hectares |
| Opañel | 112 | 110.7 hectares |
| Abrantes | 117 | 156.5 hectares |
| Vista Alegre | 114 | 158.9 hectares |
| Puerta Bonita | 115 | 160.9 hectares |
| San Isidro | 113 | 189.9 hectares |
| Buenavista | 116 | 561.3 hectares |
Buenavista alone, at 561.3 hectares, exceeds the whole Centro district at 523 and the Salamanca district at 539. The wider naming pattern is in Madrid neighbourhoods, official and popular.
Getting here without a car
The entire municipality sits in fare zone A, so distance from the centre adds nothing to the fare.
A metro single runs €1.50 to €2.00 by station count, in what a Madrid metro ticket costs, and the ring map is in how Madrid’s transport zones work.
Frequently asked questions about the Carabanchel district
Which cars are banned from the Plaza Elíptica zone?
Those in environmental class A, meaning vehicles with no DGT label at all. They are barred from entering and circulating inside the perimeter, including the stretch of the A-42 motorway that crosses it, subject to certain exceptions.
Does this affect a hire car driving through Madrid?
It can. Residents of the five affected neighbourhoods have their own access permit process, and a rental car has none. Any vehicle without an emissions label has to route around the perimeter rather than through it.
Which Carabanchel neighbourhoods are inside the zone?
Three, Abrantes, Opañel and Comillas. The perimeter is completed by Moscardó and Zofío in the Usera district, so it splits five neighbourhoods between two districts that share no local council board.
Why was a protection zone declared at Plaza Elíptica?
Because Plaza Elíptica and its surroundings hold the worst nitrogen dioxide records in the history of the municipal monitoring network, and in 2020 its measuring station was the only one in Madrid to breach the annual limit set by European directive.
How large is the Carabanchel district?
1,405 hectares, nearly three times the Centro district at 523. Its largest neighbourhood, Buenavista at 561.3 hectares, on its own exceeds the entire area of both the Centro district and the Salamanca district.
Madrid’s other hard traffic zone is not in the centre, and its boundary cuts two districts in half.