A climb on the table 8.4%. And the decision of whether to raise the tolls completely, whether to freeze their price and compensate the concessionaires or, on the contrary, there is no other choice but to extend the years of operation as compensation to alleviate the rise.
This was the scenario facing the Government this December. About to start 2023, a year in which tolls should be extended throughout the Spanish geography, the Executive has decided that neither one thing nor the other. There will be an increase, but also compensation to the concessionaires.
Because the government has decided that the highway tolls AP-51, AP-61, AP-53, AP-66, AP-7 Alicante-Cartagena, AP-7 Málaga-Guadiaro, AP-68 and AP-71, AP-9, AP-6 and AP-46 will go up 4%. The rest of the rise will be supplemented by the State, with increases that vary depending on the road.
The companies that operate these roads had signed a rise comparable to the increase in the CPI, so they had not hesitated to ask for the 8.4% that corresponded to them. To mitigate the rise, the Government has decided to limit the increase to 4% and has set aside 23.3 million euros to compensate companies. In addition, it contemplates that the scenario is repeated in the coming years.
In addition, in the published note it is also made explicit that on the AP-7 Alicante-Cartagena the tolls contemplated an extraordinary increase in 1% more, due to a participatory loan from the State that was made to pay for the expropriations. The same increase was contemplated on the AP-46 Alto de Las Pedrizas-Málaga and the AP-9 Autopista del Atlántico, in this case due to the concessionaires carrying out road improvement works.
Waiting for more tolls
Tolls have become one of the fashionable terms in Spanish mobility in recent months and even years.
First of all because according to Recovery and Resilience Planour country should have tolls on its expressways at the end of 2023 and be at full capacity in 2024. A counterpart to be able to access the 70,000 million euros of Next Generation funds contributed from Europe.
And despite the fact that the plan seemed definitive, the truth is that the implementation of tolls on Spanish expressways has been on the table for a decade now. Sufficient time to launch trial balloons with possible rates and until the DGT proposes who should assume this payment for use.
Despite everything, the implementation of this payment for use languishes and the eternal problem passes from one government to another. However, it should be noted that the last Sustainable Mobility Law It also contemplates the implementation of tolls at the entrances of Spanish cities. The installation, or not, will again depend on the governments of each locality.