Misleading news story suggests the end of motorway toll charges in Spain

The government announced last year that as toll charge concessions expire they will not be renewed

A story has been circulated on social media lately by one of the free English language “news” services in Spain in which the headline boldly states that toll charges will be lifted on all Spanish roads by the end of 2021, but readers falling for this “click bait” should be informed that this information is neither fully correct nor new.

What is true is that gradually some of the concessions granted to businesses running the toll motorways are starting to expire, and that the national government announced almost exactly a year ago that as the licences reach their expiry date the intention is not to renew them. Instead they will become free for all users while reverting to government ownership and management, although in theory even this may not be the case if the PSOE party fails in its bid to remain in power following the general election which was held on 28^th April.

So, for example, the barriers on the AP-1 in northern Spain between Burgos and Armiñón were finally raised forever at the end of 2018, and the same is on course to happen to those on the AP-7 between Alicante and Tarragona after 31^st December this year, to be followed by many others at the end of August 2021.

But these account for only 21 per cent of the toll roads of Spain, and on the stretch of the AP-7 between Cartagena and Vera (Region of Murcia and province of Alicante), for example, the concession originally granted lasted until 2040 – that road has now reverted to the national government and the toll charges have been lowered, but when José Luis Ábalos, the Minister for Development, confirmed that it was the government’s intention to scrap some motorway toll charges in June last year, he made no mention of cancelling them altogether.

On the face of it the non-renewal of toll contracts is a popular decision among most motorists - some professional drivers report that their outlay will be reduced by as much as 1,900 euros per year - but there are those who question its wisdom. As well as shouldering maintenance and repair costs, the national government will lose the tax revenue generated by the management companies, plus of course the tariffs which would be paid by those awarded the new concessions were they to be put out to tender.

Seopan, the organization representing Spain’s major motorway construction and management companies, estimated last June that the taking over of the Burgos-Armiñón road alone would cost the State 300 million euros, while at the same time arguing that the resulting increase of traffic will mean that the route becomes overused. Sr Abalós, meanwhile, recognized that maintenance costs on the roads where the concession expires in 2018 and 2019 will come to at least 27 million euros, before taking into account lost toll revenue.

So although it's good news for users of the roads that tolls will be eliminated on SOME stretches of road, the headline posted and shared all over social media last week was misleading, inaccurate, a year out of date and nothing more than a cynical ploy to attract traffic onto a webpage.

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