Roads in Spain to be tolled again
Tolls will be introduced on dual carriageways in 2024 as "the Spanish government has made commitments to Europe".
Representatives of the People's Party (PP), opposing the introduction of a new fee, argue that these measures could have been applied earlier, but were postponed until the upcoming general elections.
It is known that the Government has been working on a plan to introduce a system of payments on highways for several years. This measure was included in the action plan agreed with Brussels. At the same time, the authorities and the Spanish media claimed that tolls on highways would completely disappear in the coming years.
Controversial high-capacity road tolls, which the government had originally agreed with Brussels, were included in Spain's Recovery Plan. The measure, which, since its publication, has caused discontent among both private individuals and specialists.
The government justifies the introduction of the new tax by the need to comply with the “polluter pays” principle, as well as the inability to cover the costs of maintaining the 24,466 km road network from budgetary resources.
Many doubts remain about how dual carriageway tolls will be collected. There are currently several options available. For example, not to charge a toll for certain types of trips, such as trips for work or health reasons. Authorities are also considering the idea of a "fare-in fare" that would cost one cent for every kilometer driven.