Pollution in the capital last year remained above EU limits and was up on 2010.

Air pollution in Madrid is getting worse, according to the report for 2011 from the environmental organisation Ecologistas en Acción. EFE quotes the organisation’s Juan Bárcenas while presenting the figures on Wednesday, ‘Only in El Retiro Park can you breathe air which complies with the limits.’

It shows that only five of the 24 pollution measuring stations which City Hall has set up across the Spanish capital showed levels of nitrogen dioxide which were below the EU limit of 40 micrograms per cubic metre. The yearly average for the 24 stations together was 45 micrograms, compared with 44 for 2010.

The European Union sets an hourly limit value of 200 micrograms of NO2 per cubic metre which is not to be exceeded more than 18 times in a calendar. Nine of Madrid’s monitoring stations registered levels in excess of this limit last year.

The organisation said that two other common air pollutants, ground level ozone and particle pollution, also registered high levels last year and were above the maximum set by the EU.

Source: http://www.typicallyspanish.com