Spain’s troubled toll motorways which have returned to State control will be free to use between midnight and 6.00am from January 15. The tolls on nine motorways will be cut by about 30 per cent in the same day.
The roads were bought back from their franchise holders by the previous Partido Popular administration and the Public Works Ministry believes that cutting the charges will make them more attractive to motorists.
The roads affected are the AP-7 between Cartagena in Murcia and Vera in Almería, the AP-7 Alicante ring-road. the AP-36 between Ocaña in Toledo province and La Roda in Albacete, Madrid’s outer-suburban “radial” routes, the R-2, R-3, R-4 and R-5, and the M-12 link to Madrid airport. The AP-7 between Silla, south of Valencia city, and San Juan, north of Alicante city, is expected to be toll-free by January 1, 2020.
The Ministry is also continuing structural inspections on all motorway bridges following the devastating collapse of a bridge in Italy in the autumn, and will develop repair strategies for 66 defects already detected. Public Works Minister José Luis Ábalos, meanwhile, has asked for a working committee to be tasked with planning the future of Spain’s high-capacity main intercity roads.
