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The government has decided to eliminate tolls on the highways whose concessions are coming due, which has caused different reactions among the affected sectors. Seopan, the employers’ association of construction companies and concessionaires has not wanted to position directly and refers to the estimate made in April that the abolition of tolls would cost 450 million annually for public coffers, only for those sections whose concession expires in the immediate future.

On the other hand, celebrates the decision the transport sector, for which means a saving of up to 1,900 euros per year on average per vehicle. According to Ceopan, the liberalization of tolls at the end of the concessions and reverting the toll roads to the public network would cost 450 million euros a year for the State if we consider only the roads whose concessions end between this year and 2021, if we take into account the 2,550 km of networks in the country the amount goes up to 1,000 million.

The decision of the Ministry of Development currently affects three routes, which expire this year and next, the AP-1 Burgos-Armiñón, the AP-4 Sevilla-Cádiz and the section of the AP-7 between Alicante and Tarragona . However, it can serve as a precedent for the three that end their concession in 2021, the section of the AP-7 that joins Barcelona, ​​with the Jonquera and Tarragona, and that of the AP-2 Zaragoza-Mediterráneo. The road transport sector values ​​the announcement of the elimination of tolls very positively. Juan José Gil, Secretary of Fenadismer, which brings together 32,000 small and medium-sized transport companies, has celebrated the news as “very important and very positive” for the group of transporters, both for economic reasons and traffic and “security”.

Gil stressed that, on average, each heavy truck paid about 1,900 euros annually in tolls, has also stressed that opening the highways will be an alternative to carriers who, to avoid tolls, choose national roads. “We are accused of congesting nationals, so without tolls, both truckers and cars will be able to choose”, relieving traffic on secondary roads. Finally, he celebrates the news for “security reasons and not so much speed”, by opening transporters more comfortable and safe routes.