Barcelona is giving residents up to 600 euros to scrap petrol mopeds and buy electric ones. The city wants to remove 24,000 combustion mopeds by 2030 and will add new battery swap stations to support the switch.
Barcelona is putting up cash to speed up the shift away from petrol mopeds. Starting this week, residents who scrap a combustion moped and buy an electric one can get up to 600 euros per vehicle. The city aims to take 24,000 polluting mopeds off the road and cut 3,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year.
The subsidy, first announced by the mayor last November, is now available and will run until September 2028. The process is straightforward: applicants need proof of buying an electric moped and a certificate showing the old moped was destroyed. Applications are online, and the city will cover up to half the pre-tax price of the new electric model.
The subsidy program applies retroactively: purchases and scrapping done after March 1, 2026, are eligible for compensation.
El Periódico
Most residents with a petrol moped, or anyone who has bought an electric one since March 1, can apply. The city has set aside 5.2 million euros for this first phase, with a total of 15 million euros planned through 2030. The measure is part of Barcelona’s Plan Clima, a city-wide effort to cut emissions, with 1.8 billion euros to be invested by the end of the decade.
To make electric mopeds more practical, Barcelona will also install 64 battery swap stations across the city. The rules for these stations are already in place, and the city will soon invite proposals to build them. This new infrastructure is meant to address range concerns and make electric mopeds a real option for daily travel.
Until now, there was no public aid aimed specifically at mopeds, even though they are a major source of urban air pollution. The city’s move comes as other parts of Spain also deal with the environmental and social costs of outdated transport and housing, as highlighted in recent reports on labor and housing conditions elsewhere in the country.
According to independent confirmation by El Periódico, the first phase of the program is backed by a 5.2 million euro budget, with the total funding for 2026–2030 estimated at around 15 million euros. The city expects to reduce annual CO2 emissions by approximately 3,000 tonnes as a result of removing polluting mopeds from circulation.
Barcelona’s plan is direct: pay people to scrap polluting mopeds, invest in infrastructure, and set a clear timeline. City officials are betting that cash incentives and practical support will do more to change habits than general appeals to sustainability. With a set budget, a simple application, and new battery stations on the way, the city wants electric mopeds to become the standard. If the plan works, it could become a model for other European cities facing similar problems with urban transport and air quality.
