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Motorway tolls, which are already quite unaffordable for many drivers, are set to increase again from January 1, 2024. Using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as a gauge, the concessionaires of these roads plan to increase prices by 4% in just a couple of weeks.

 

While there’s no doubt that the cost of tolls will rise, it’s ultimately up to the Ministry of Transport in Spain to decide whether to go by the CPI or choose a lower amount. If the government decides on the latter, it will be forced to make up the difference owed to the managers of the roads, something which the Ministry isn’t too keen on since it already owes money.

 

This year, inflation indicated that toll charges should increase by 8.4% but the government decided this was too much to expect motorists to pay, so it reduced the amount to 4%. To make up the shortfall, the Ministry now has to come up with 23.3 million euros per year between now and 2026.

 

The largest annual increase in state motorway tolls took place in 2007, when it reached 4.5%. Until last year, the average increase in the 17 years of application of the current review system had been 2.1%.

 

The concessionaires in Spain are in the hands of large operators such as Abertis, Ferrovial, Itínere and Globalvia, and investment and pension funds such as Meridiam, Vauban, Aberdeen and Bestinver Infra.

 

If this wasn’t enough for drivers to contend with, it may only be a matter of time before charges are applied to other Spanish high-capacity roads like dual carriageways. For now, the EU isn’t pushing Spain to implement this system given the uncertainty of the financial climate, but these tolls are could be coming further down the line.

 

 

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