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ARCHIVED - Spain confirms intention to install tolls on highways
The measure for paying for the use of highways in Spain will come into effect in 2024
The Government of Spain has this week reaffirmed its plans to begin charging tolls on the country’s highways, something which the Secretary General of Infrastructure, Sergio Vazquez, has insisted on referring to as “tarificación” (“charging for use”), presumably to take the sting out of the fact that travel for the average road user is about to become even more expensive. The new tolls are set to come into force in 2024.
The move appears to be up for little debate as Spain has already committed to charging for the roads as part of the agreement with Europe to receive recovery funds, but ministers insist that tolls will also help with the maintenance of infrastructure.
Many officials have backed the move, insisting that the money set aside in the 2022 budgets is simply not sufficient; however, political party Podemos has argued that certain exceptions to the tolls should exist: for people on low and medium incomes, and for those who use the roads professionally on a regular basis, so as not to penalise “working people”.
Supporters of the measure have also indicated that charging for the use of the roads would encourage more people to use public transport, something which has tapered off during the pandemic and would benefit Spain’s commitment to sustainable travel in the fight against climate change. While the use of many railway lines has reduced by up to 40% since the onset of Covid, travel on the AP-9 highway now actually exceeds pre-pandemic levels.
While the finer details on the charges have yet to be revealed, the most likely outcome will be a system similar to that of Portugal, whereby control cameras would log licence plate details and drivers would pay around one cent per kilometre.
If this were the case, a trip from the Community of Valencia to Madrid would end up costing around 3.60 euros.
The practice of charging for the use of highways is nothing new, and 24 out of the 27 EU member states currently have some kind of pay-as-you-go system in place.
Image: Archive
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