DISCUSSION 23J | Feijóo accuses Sánchez in the debate of wanting to implement tolls on highways throughout Spain

In it debate for the elections of 23J who faced yesterday face to face with the President of the Government, Pedro Sanchezand the leader of the opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, hardly talk about automotive. Instead, a controversial issue that affects motorists was addressed, when Feijóo accused Sánchez of wanting to implement tolls on the highways.

He PP leader asked the chief executive if he was going to “charge all the highways in Spain”what Sánchez responded with a negative, alleging that “you know that we have liberalized tolls in Galicia”. Feijóo insisted saying that “you have told me that the toll thing is a liebut on the twenty-seventh of four of two thousand and twenty-one, he delivered this proposal to the European Union”.

$!Feijoo in the 23J electoral debate

Feijoo in the 23J electoral debate

And indeed, as we already discussed in previous refueling, the Government of Spain moved to the European Union a Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of Spainin which on page 127 it states that “it is necessary to develop a system of payment for the use of the high-capacity road network that allows cover maintenance costs and integrate the negative externalities of road transport as it happens in the rest of the infrastructures”.

$!Sánchez and Feijoo, in the 23J electoral debate

Sánchez and Feijoo, in the electoral debate of 23J

The Minister of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda, raquel sanchezseconded this proposal saying at the time that “We need resources to be able to maintain adequate quality standards for our roads”. To which he added that “we have to respond to the European criteria of who pollutes pays, and as indicated, contribute to the reduction of greenhouse effect gases that are generated”. Despite all this, Sanchez insisted in it debate for the elections of 23J that what Feijóo praised about the implementation of tolls on the highways was “lie”.

Payment for vignettes on the highways

The refusal of the President of the Government has not prevented even speculation about how much the tolls could cost and what would be the collection methods. Most likely, a flat rate system was used through the use of bullet points, since it is the easiest to implant. It is a sticker like the one from the ITV that will be displayed on the windshield, and that upon payment of a fee to be determined, will allow free use of the highways.

The traffic control cameras They could be the ones in charge of controlling whether a car has it or not, and therefore punishing those who drive irregularly on the highway. This new function would be added to that of ITV control that was recently put on the table.

Although there is no official communication from the Ministry of Transport, some media say that the central executive itself intends to charge between 75 and 80 euros per year for this vignette to passenger cars, and higher rates for more polluting professional transport, which could pay up to 400 euros.

But the cartoons would in any case be temporary, since what the Government has planned for a increased control of tolls is the installation of porticos to establish a payment for use. A barrier would be placed every 40 or 50 kilometers, disbursing an established amount in each section.

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