We have been threatening for years that the Government will introduce generalized tolls on Spanish highways and motorways, since the more than 30,000 million euros collected in taxes from drivers do not serve -apparently- to cover a maintenance deficit of 8,000 million.
This headline from El País may sound familiar to you: «The Government parks for unpopular the highway payment plan», from the end of December. Well it was a lie, but not from the newspaper, but from the Government. Not a few days passed and we already had more news that brings us closer to the repayment of ALL Spanish highways and expressways that right now do not have tolls. It is a repayment, we already pay them with fuel taxes, VAT, registration tax, etc.
The government told EU politicians in Brussels that the project would be ready this year, a matter of six months, but that the lack of political consensus with its own investiture partners would delay its implementation. It may be 2023, it may be 2024 (in the next legislature), but they are cornering us. It is a compensation for obtaining European funds.
On Thursday, January 20, two weeks ago, the head of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban AgendaRaquel Sánchez, said that she would present the preliminary draft of the Mobility Law to be debated in the Council of Ministers the day before yesterday, February 1. No trace of that text in the official summary. Perhaps it is that the minister forgot, because this was not discussed at the press conference either.
Highways such as the AP-7 saw their tolls disappear, but they will not last long like this – Photography: Jorge Franganillo (Flickr) CC BY
This measure is important because would open the door to payment for use of vital infrastructures for the country’s economy, starting with the obvious fact that more than 90% of goods are transported by road, not to mention professionals who go to and from their jobs.
All this comes at a time when prices have hit the biggest rise in the last 30 years (more than 6% increase in the CPI), electricity is very expensive in the wholesale market and fuels are at record prices, especially electricity. 95 octane gasoline. And the tax collection is through the roofbut it’s still not enough.
The justification for this repayment is so as not to withdraw resources “from health, education or justice” to pay for the maintenance of our roads
Given the unpopularity of the measure, it is difficult for it to be approved just before the 2023 General Elections, since the legislature will end in November of next year if it has not previously been blown up. The pressure exerted by the carriers, who almost went on strike at Christmas, managed to give us all a break.
Some results of the survey carried out among RACE members
One of the latest news we had regarding the arrival of repayment – euphemistically called “a pricing system” – came from the mouth of the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Isabel Pardo de Vera, who said in Pontevedra that establishing the charges was “imperative”.
We have spent years with opacity, vague statements or idyllic responses such that all opinions and needs will be taken into account, a dance of statements impossible for the common citizen to follow and a boredom that continues to increase every time someone with a minimum of relevance He says a few words to keep the bread rising.
Faced with so much uncertainty, even price forecasts appear, like the ones given by La Opinion de Zamora. Thus, the local media provides a 3 euro toll -to be added to the 12 euros of the AP-6- between Zamora and Madrid, or to Valladolid for 1 euro, a little less to go to León, or 60 cents to go to Salamanca. The repayment would be very dilutedbut it would still be a repayment because motorists pay a lot more than the roads need.
AP-6 toll booths – Photography: César (Flickr) CC BY-SA 2.0
First vignette, then porches, but there will be no barriers
According to ABCin the short term the Government is in favor of implementing a vignette system, for which a fixed amount is paid and a badge must be worn on the windshield, as in Switzerland or Austria. In the medium term, the preferred option is payment per kilometer through electronic tollsas has been the case in Portugal since 2010.
Meanwhile, our Iberian neighbors are already going through the third reduction of the amounts of the former SCUT highways, those that were built with European funds and that were filled with gantries to raise money, which is not enough for the maintenance of the roads in question. Some highways reduced their rates by 50% in July.
As underlined by common sense and data from a RACE survey, it is clear that tolls on all express roads will imply an increase in accidents due to the increase in traffic on secondary roads, economic damage for all and, obviously, more traffic victims. Surely the DGT solves it with more radars and more drones.