It was in 2018 that the current Spanish government, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, announced its intentions to liberalize all toll highways whose private concessions had not been renewed.
That same year, on December 1st, the Autopista del Norte, the AP-1, via the tolls on the Burgos and Armiñón section — about 84 km — were raised. Until then, the private concession of Itínere, not having been renewed, would make the AP-1 the first Spanish highway to change from private to public management.
Since then, several tolled highways have become public and free. This year alone, 640 km have been added, including the four motorways that, as of today, September 1st, also no longer pay. In total, since the beginning of this process, 1029 km of highways no longer have tolls.
Today it was the turn of the AP-2 (Zaragoza-Barcelona (connection with AP-7)) — one of the most expensive motorways in Spain, with a cost of €0.15/km, so far managed by Abertis — a pair of sections of the AP-7 (Montmeló-El Papiol (Barcelona); Tarragona-La Jonquera (Girona)), the C-32 (Lloret de Mar-Barcelona) and the C-33 (Ciutat Comtal-Montmeló) no longer have tolls.
The C-32 and C-33, however, will be handled by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Generality of Catalonia).
Free, but until when?
While these sections are now free of charge, it is also true that they may be paid for very soon.
The Spanish government has been preparing for months new tax solutions, under its Recovery Plan (the equivalent of our Recovery and Resilience Plan), which will rethink the taxation of various aspects related to the use of the car, taking into account the premise of “those who pollute pay” and, of course, this includes the use of highways and expressways.
An analysis by the Spanish government of its motorway network, carried out by the Ministry of Transport, found that only 8% were tolled, with the remaining 92% corresponding to free access motorways.
In the future, closer than distant, this scenario should change, and even if it does not imply the return of physical tolls, it could imply the creation of a new tax, also for the State to be able to finance the maintenance and conservation of these roads.
It is worth remembering that Spain has the largest network of motorways and expressways in Europe (over 17 thousand kilometers), but it is also where you pay less.
Source: Digital Economy, El Economista.