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Date Published: 24/11/2022

ARCHIVED - Plans to implement tolls on dual carriageways in Spain drive forward

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The project to charge for the use of roads in Spain will be ready in a few months

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Plans to implement tolls on dual carriageways in Spain drive forward

The Secretary of State for Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda, Isabel Pardo de Vera, said on Wednesday November 23 that the project to establish tolls on Spanish dual carriageways will be ready “in the coming months”, at least before the end of the legislature.

The Secretary insisted that inflation and the current economic difficulties will be taken into account when designing the new payment system but that tolls are most definitely coming down the line. While it’s never been a popular proposal, she added, Spain has made a commitment to Brussels to charge for the use of its roads.

Ms Pardo de Vera asked those present at the New Economy Forum to look at the tolls as a sustainability model aimed at modernising the country’s infrastructure and increasing road safety.

“We must find solutions to the lack of infrastructure maintenance that has existed for too many years. It is a requirement emanating from Europe that forces the establishment of formulas to maintain safety on the roads. The changes go further and focus on criteria of sustainability, digitisation [and] electrification,” the Secretary concluded.

The development of the new model will of course require a considerable amount of manpower, and Ms Pardo de Vera took the opportunity to highlight the lack of workers in the construction industry and the importance of the different government departments coming to an agreement on the hiring of immigrants.

It’s estimated that around 200,000 labour vacancies will need to be filled to carry out projects linked to European funds.

“With 12% structural unemployment and a lot of immigration, the logical thing would be to find a solution. First, unemployed and irregular immigrants with regulated training and the possibility of obtaining a residence permit will be used. If the demand is not met with that, it will move to a strategy focused on international recruitment without delay,” she explained.

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