IN a written response, Spain’s central government has made it clear that it will not be removing tolls from the AP-7 motorway on the Costa del Sol, despite the current traffic and mobility problems along the route.
That was the answer given by the Socialist-led administration in Madrid to a question from the main opposition Partido Popular (PP), about the two paid-for stretches of road between Benalmadena and Estepona, and Estepona and Guadiaro.
According to a report in La Opinion de Malaga, the central government reasoned that none of the reasons covered in contracts covering the toll route are currently in place for the tolls to be lifted, such as a state of war or the destruction of part of the road.
Nor, the government added, is there ‘the possibility of suspending tolls’ within the law that regulates the concession of public works.
The question was filed by Jose Alberto Armijo, who is both the mayor of Nerja and a senator for the PP in Spain’s upper house of parliament.
After receiving the government’s response, the PP in Malaga stated that it was a ‘grievance’ for the province, given that the state is currently spending public funds to compensate other toll roads.
The president of the PP in Malaga, Patricia Navarro, said that it was ‘unfair and discriminatory’ that Malaga has only one motorway, as well as the AP-7 being the most expensive per kilometre in Spain.
She also pointed to the fact that Portugal recently took the decision to suspend tolls on routes where there were no safe and high-quality alternatives.
Navarro also denounced the ‘apathy and passivity’ of the Socialist administration, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, when it comes to improving mobility on the Costa del Sol.
The PP has also been calling for a train route to be built along the coast to help with the issue.
“From the PP, we will not cease in our efforts to demand solutions, so we will continue with our proposal for the government to develop a train service from the coast to Marbella, Estepona and Algeciras, and to suspend or temporarily subsidise tolls until this railway solution becomes a reality,” Navarro said, in comments reported by Malaga Hoy.
In response, the central government’s subdelegate in Malaga province, Javier Salas, pointed out that the PP failed to suspend tolls on the AP-7 when it was in power in the central government.