The private cars of members of the acting Government have an average age of almost 12 years and none are electric. In addition, two of the ministers’ private vehicles are more than 20 years old, another six are at least 10 years old and only two are less than five years old, according to the declaration of assets that the ministers have presented to the Congress of Deputies. and which was made public this week.
In fact, some of the ministers’ cars lack a DGT environmental badge or have a B or C label (the worst of the four that exist), so they could not circulate in the low-emission zones (ZBE) of Madrid. , with exceptions.
Some of the ministers would also not be able to drive their private vehicles through the center of the cities where they are domiciled, many of them forced to implement ZBE because they are municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants (149 in all of Spain in which 25 million people live, more than half of the Spanish population).
This is the case, for example, of the Minister of Finance and Public Function, María Jesús Montero, who declares that she has a Nissan Primera from the year 2000 and is a deputy in the Cortes Generales for Seville. It is the only vehicle of all those owned by the ministers that does not have a DGT badge as it was registered before 2001.
Margarita Robles, Minister of Defense and deputy for Madrid, would also not be able to circulate freely through the center of Madrid with her 2002 Hyundai Getz, as it is a 21-year-old vehicle with a B label (the worst of the four). To access the Special Protection ZBE of the capital (Centro and Plaza Elíptica) you would have to park in a public or private parking lot, unless you reside in one of these areas, in which case you would have a special permit for residents.
The head of the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, would also not be able to access the Special Protection ZBEs in Madrid if she does not park any of her two cars from 2007 and 2011, a Peugeot 307 and a Peugeot 5008, in a public or private parking lot. respectively. Luckily, the third vice president of the Government also owns a 2023 Renault Clio hybrid that bears the ECO label with which she can circulate freely through the center of Madrid.
The Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Héctor Gómez, owns a 2017 Mercedes GLA with C label, while the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, owns a 2015 BMW 5 Series, also with C label. Félix Bolaños, Minister of the Presidency, Relations with the Cortes and Democratic Memory, also has a 2015 car with a C label, in this case a Nissan X-Trail.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, does not own any vehicle, as stated in the declaration of assets at the beginning of the XV Legislature. Sánchez no longer has the 2005 Peugeot 407 with which he toured Spain before the PSOE primary elections in 2017. He now travels in an official Audi A8 L Security model car that is part of the State’s fleet and that Mariano already used Rajoy when he was President of the Government between 2011 and 2018. Being a 2017 model with special armor, it is not electrified and is powered by a 500 HP naturally aspirated W12 FSI engine with all-wheel drive.
Five other ministers have also not declared having their own vehicle: the head of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares; the Minister of Science and Innovation, Diana Morant; that of Culture and Sports, Miquel Iceta; the Minister of Social Rights and Agenda 2030, Ione Belarra, and the Minister of Health, José Miñones.
These are the cars that acting Government ministers declare they have:
Outside of the Government, the 1965 Opel Rekord Olympia of Vox deputy Javier Ortega Smith stands out, who also owns a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander. His classmate Santiago Abascal declares a 2015 Jeep Commander and a 2016 BMW R 80 RT motorcycle.