Spain’s Motorway Tolls To Increase By A Maximum Of 4% In 2023
Spain News
Published: 18 January 2023 16:42 CET
A four percent increase in toll road charges has been approved by the Spanish government.
Although this is another price increase in what are already tough times, the four percent increase is a fraction of the eight or nine percent that was requested by the companies that run them. The ministry has said it will subsidise the part of the revenue that they will not receive, due to this limitation on toll increases in 2023.
The ministry has said that a budget line of 23.3 million euros will be released for this purpose. It also introduces a requirement for the General Government Service to provide the necessary funds to partially reduce the increase between 2024 and 2026, thus spreading the cost.
"We must not forget that the increase in tariffs is cumulative, hence the need to pass on to users the difference they do not pay in 2023, a year when the increase due to inflation is expected to be around 8.38%. Even if this is done bit by bit, so that it can be accepted by citizens in better circumstances,” the Minister said.
A total of 11 toll roads will raise their prices this year and although the Ministry of Transport has yet to update the prices, the companies who run the toll booths have started to release their rates.
It has been decided that tolls on the SEITT-managed highways, which have been returned to the state due to financial difficulties, will be frozen.
Motorways that will see prices frozen include the Alicants ring road, the section from Cartagena to Vera, the R-3, R-5, M-12, R-2, R-4, AP-36, and the AP-41.
According to the approved royal decree, the price increase will be limited to 4% in 2023 for users of the 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 motorways.
In the case of the AP-7 Alicante-Cartagena, on top of the standard price increase, a further increase of 1% will also have to be applied, in order to repay a participation loan taken out by the State to pay for expropriations.
This means that without the government's measures, the price would increase by 9.46%. However, it was approved that the increase will be 4% for this stretch too, limiting the standard increase to 3%, to which the further 1% increase will be added.
The AP-46 Alto de Las Pedrizas-Málaga and the AP-9 Autopista del Atlántico also have to apply an extra increase in the price, to help finance the works carried out to improve the infrastructure. For this highway too, the government has once again decided to limit the increase to 4%.
The aim, according to the Ministry of Transport, led by Minister Raquel Sánchez, is to “help citizens cope with the current scenario of high energy prices”.
Motorists can receive discounts on toll roads, with many of the companies offering different concessions for drivers who make a certain number of trips monthly using the tolls, as well as those who make a round trip in a 24-hour period and even cheaper prices depending on the time of day travelled.
Sources
https://spanishnewstoday.com/this_is_the_new_price_of_motorway_tolls_across_spain_following_a_4_per_cent_price_increase_1978766-a.html
https://inspain.news/price-rise-of-11-spanish-toll-roads-limited-to-4-by-2023/
