Spain may soon adopt a toll system for motorway drivers, charging 3 cents per kilometre, amidst European Union pressures. Currently, Spain has the most free highway kilometres in Europe. The Transport Ministry has resisted implementing new tollways despite EU threats of penalties. A major construction conglomerate, Seopan, argues that tolls are necessary to maintain and expand the road network, currently financed primarily through public budgets and taxpayer money. This proposed model would impose significant costs on drivers, particularly for heavy transport vehicles, while addressing territorial inequalities in toll-free motorway access.
Currently, the maintenance of the Spanish road network is financed almost exclusively through the public budget, which means that the entire financial burden falls on taxpayers.
Seopan's proposal is to charge drivers on Spain's entire highway network 3 cents/km, making a drive from Madrid to Barcelona cost 18 in tolls.
Spain is the only major EU nation whose road network is mostly toll-free, accounting for 68 percent of toll-free motorway kilometres across the bloc.
With EU pressures and the construction industry's call for a pay-per-kilometre system, Spain could see significant changes in its highway funding model.
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