tolls. This word that gets on our nerves to all drivers in Spain and half the world. If we go to the dictionary of the Spanish language of the Royal Spanish Academy we can see that it has two meanings and the two are related. First: Right of transit. Second: Place where the toll is paid. Well, it seems that the worst omens will come true next year 2023 since it seems they will be generalized in Spain...
If it is not in 2023, it will be in 2024, but for some time the Government of Spain has been "launching trial balloons" over the Possibility of imposing tolls for the use of the road network. This new tax figure (because it is nothing more than a tax) will be implemented on highways, leaving the secondary network aside. Therefore, if we feel like taking a trip we will have to pay so many euros to travel so many kilometers on the highway. Take note…
The tolls, in theory, are to support the maintenance of the Spanish road network... although there would be three exceptions...
For the time being the imposition of tolls in Spain still does not have a law or regulation that explains it. However, there is a plan called the "Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan" that the Government of Spain has drawn up and has been sent to Brussels. In this, among many other things, he states the intention of the Spanish executive to apply this rate for the use of roads as of next year 2024. But if it is approved, it could be sooner...
In addition, this controversial measure would apply to all the Autonomous Communities that make up the country. There would only be a couple of "obstacles" to overcome: the Basque Country, whose collection and management would be in the hands of the councils. And there is also Catalonia, although for now it is not known how the transfer of this "new" competition would be managed. Yet it seems that the payment of tolls could be subsidized for certain types of use.
The General direction of traffic, more precisely its general director Pere Navarro, explains that there are three cases in which the user of the road network would not have to pay for using the highways.
- To go to and from work.
- For medical trips to go to the hospital for some type of medical consultation or to receive treatment, and
- Students who need to travel to go to the educational center.
However, It is not yet known how one would proceed to verify these casuistry and not apply the payment of tolls to the most vulnerable users. We assume that as Brussels studies the text and Spain defines its lines of action, we will have more data. What is clear is that it seems that the taxes that we all pay are not enough to maintain the road network, but they are enough for other types of "more social" policies that are hardly noticeable...
According to words of Sergio Vázquez, Secretary General of Infrastructures...
"It does not make sense that the maintenance of the roads continues to be paid for with the taxes of all Spaniards who have more urgent needs such as social policies"
Perhaps these words are not the most accurate, but We all benefit from roads in one way or another. and therefore, its support is everyone's business. But there everyone...
Source - Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda