Alcoy 2026: The City of Bridges Before Its ZBE Arrives
Alcoy, Spain · ZBE
Alcoy (Alcoi) — the inland Valencian town set among mountains where three rivers meet, built across deep ravines spanned by tall bridges (it's nicknamed the 'city of bridges'), with a strong industrial and Modernista (Art Nouveau) heritage, and famous above all for its spectacular Moors and Christians festival (Moros i Cristians) each April, one of the most elaborate in Spain — runs a Zona de Bajas Emisiones restricting older vehicles, with fines around EUR 100-200. The hilly centre is walkable. Park in a garage and walk; the bridges, the festival and the surrounding mountains are the draws.
Can your car enter Alcoy?
Alcoy’s low emission zone exists only on paper for now — the Zona de Bajas Emisiones is planned and funded but not yet operating, so no sticker, Euro-class or fine applies to any car crossing its ravine-spanned bridges today. That leaves the mountain town’s real driving story: park in a garage below the old quarter and walk the steep streets to the bridges and the Moors and Christians festival each April, saving the car for the Sierra de Mariola beyond.
This page covers driving around Alcoy. For the emission classes and zone boundary, see the Alcoy ZBE details.
Park, walk the city of bridges
Park in an underground garage near the centre and walk the hilly town — the bridges over the ravines (the St George’s Bridge), the Modernista buildings and the squares. Foreign plates have no DGT label, so check current foreign-car rules before entering the zone. Spain’s limits: 50 km/h urban, 0.05% alcohol.
When the car helps
Keep it for the surrounding mountains — the Sierra de Mariola and Font Roja parks, the villages — and the road down to the Costa Blanca and Alicante, driven from a central garage.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Alcoy's Zona de Bajas Emisiones classifies vehicles by Spain's DGT environmental labels and restricts the most polluting ones, with fines around EUR 100-200 for non-compliant entry. Spanish cars display a DGT sticker; foreign-registered cars don't, so check the city's current rules on foreign-plate access before driving into the centre. The compact, hilly centre means parking on the edge and walking is the easy approach.
Alcoy's Moros i Cristians festival, held in April around the feast of St George, is considered one of the most spectacular and important Moors and Christians festivals in Spain, re-enacting the medieval struggle between Moorish and Christian forces with thousands of participants in magnificent, elaborate costumes, grand parades (entradas), music, gunpowder and a mock battle for a castle in the main square. It fills the town for days and is its biggest event; the rest of the year, Alcoy is a quieter industrial mountain town.
Alcoy is built on rugged terrain where deep ravines (barrancos) cut through the town at the meeting of three rivers, and to connect its districts it has constructed a series of tall, impressive bridges over these gorges, the most famous being the Pont de Sant Jordi (St George's Bridge), a fine Art Nouveau-era viaduct. The bridges, and the Modernista architecture from the town's industrial heyday, give Alcoy a distinctive vertical character, best appreciated on foot.
Use an underground garage near the centre, then walk. The hilly centre, with its bridges, Modernista buildings and squares, is walkable once parked. Street parking is limited and partly restricted by the ZBE, so a central garage is the easy choice. Keep the car for the surrounding mountains and the route toward the coast.
Not for the compact, hilly centre, which is walkable. A car helps for exploring the surrounding mountains — the Sierra de Mariola natural park with its herbs and springs, the Font Roja park, the mountain villages — and the route down to the Costa Blanca coast and Alicante, driven from a central garage rather than used in the ZBE-bound centre.
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