Spanish government to help fund purchase of electric bikes

PM Pedro Sánchez has announced 20 million euros of aid for this purpose and another 20 million euros to expand the municipal public transport system and extend it to other cities

Lucía Palacios

Madrid

Sunday, 15 September 2024, 08:00 | Updated 08:23h.

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More and cheaper bicycles in cities and towns across Spain. That is what the government wants and that is why it committed to public transport as the best alternative for decongesting cities while caring the environment. It will allocate 40 million euros to promote the use of bicycles, a method of transport that is already widespread in major European cities including Amsterdam, Brussels and London.

This is why, for the first time, the government has included the bicycle in public transport subsidies that have been implemented in recent years. It is planning to subsidise with 20 million euros the purchase of electric bicycles by individuals or companies and allocate 20 million euros to reduce the cost of the current public bicycle systems that already exist in Madrid and Barcelona. It then plans to extend the use of this form of transport to other Spanish cities.

The government is going to allocate 10 million euros to lowering the fares of existing systems, such as BiciMad in Madrid and Bicing in Barcelona, and another 10 million euros will be used to bring this mode of transport to other cities that do not yet have it. "We are going to make a firm commitment to the use of bicycles in cities," announced Sánchez on Thursday 12 September during the presentation of a new campaign to promote the use of public transport.

New laws

Sánchez called on mayors to join him in promoting this "fantastic" transport option in some cities, especially at certain times of the year, and promised that the government will support mayors and municipalities that are committed to bicycles "with laws and economic resources".

He hopes to see changes in transport in cities in which "there will be more car sharing, more public buses, more metros and trams, more motorbikes and bicycles", making cities "healthier, cleaner and more welcoming".

The prime minister pointed out that 35 per cent of people in Spain use bicycles, according to the latest report by the Cetelem Observatory.

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