Madrid council calls on citizens to leave their cars at home

Madrid's council began urging citizens to use public transport on Monday, in an effort to lower the pollution levels in the city. An area of high pressure that moved over the peninsula a week ago has seen big cities suffering from dirty skies, as seen in this imageof Madrid's Cuatro Torres Business Area.

City Hall denies, however, that the levels at which public warnings should be emitted have been exceeded. "We have decided to do this as a preventative measure," a city spokesperson explained on Monday.

The Popular Party-run City Hall has been under pressure in recent days to do something about the levels of pollution in the capital after it was revealed that Madrid's air had toxins exceeding the European Union's legal limits. The city's environment chief, Ana Botella, has said that reducing traffic by the necessary amount is simply "impossible" and has asked for a moratorium on any action to be taken by Brussels.