ARCHIVED - Government plans to introduce tolls on all Spanish motorways

A proposal submitted to the EU outlines plans to make charges universal in 2024

The current Spanish government has won over numerous friends in certain parts of the country since coming to power by terminating the management contracts of various stretches of toll motorway, making it free for motorists to use key roads, but in the long term it is becoming apparent that these examples of deregulation are likely to be the exception rather than the norm.

As part of the latest economic recovery plan submitted to the EU in Brussels the government specifies the introduction of “payments related to mobility such as the introduction of toll charges on roads and a review of the taxes paid on registered vehicles”, indicating that drivers in this country could be facing increased expenses in the medium-term future. The aim is to implement the measures outlined in the document in 2024, and the government also indicates that it is planning to introduce a new “Sustainable Mobility and Transport Financing Law” which will radically alter the legal framework within which road travel operates in Spain.

It is specified in an annexe that the principle underlying the new tolls will be that those who pollute should pay, the aim being to combine increased government revenue with an incentive to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. Before that, the intention is to raise public awareness of the importance of the reforms and how they will be implemented, and to stress that the maintenance costs of the 26,000-kilometre motorway network in Spain cannot be borne by the government without any support.

Unsurprisingly, objections to the plan are already coming to light, and it has been calculated that the cost of taking a refrigerated trailer containing fresh vegetable produce from Murcia to Madrid would rise by 56 euros as a direct result of the introduction of this kind of toll. Other calculations suggest that a toll of approximately 4 cents per kilometre would be enough to cover maintenance costs.

This would mean a journey from Madrid to Murcia costing approximately 15 euros in tolls.

In recent years, while Spain has reduced the number of toll motorways, in Portugal the charges have been made universal throughout the motorway network for all vehicles, while tolls have become more common in France and Italy. In Germany, on the other hand, all of the autobahns are free to all motorists.