Madrid's city government recorded €273 million in traffic fines in 2025, surpassing its own budget forecast of €208 million by 31 percent, according to municipal budget execution data analysed by legal firm Dvuelta. The figure represents formally recognised penalties — not necessarily collected revenue — but serves as the standard indicator for planning future public income. Critics note the shortfall is not an isolated miscalculation: Madrid has set lower fine forecasts than the previous year's actual results for three consecutive years, while revenues have risen sharply since Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida (of the centre-right Partido Popular) took office in 2019, when recognised fines stood at €142.6 million. Dvuelta argues the repeated underestimation reflects a deliberate political choice rather than a technical error, and that Madrid's fines — driven largely by cameras enforcing Low Emission Zones (restricted urban areas where vehicles without environmental ratings face €200 penalties) — have become a financing mechanism rather than a road-safety tool.