Skip to main content

Spanish government to launch state-owned motorway operator?

The Spanish government may launch a state-owned motorway operator as part of a plan to solve the economic difficulties that nine operators are currently undergoing. As part of the plan, the operators' will see their debt to banks reduced from €3.6 billion. A further solution, which is also being considered by the government, is to dissolve financially challenged operators in an orderly fashion. At present, the operators and the government are in negotiation over a possible solution.
March 24, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
The Spanish government may launch a state-owned motorway operator as part of a plan to solve the economic difficulties that nine operators are currently undergoing. As part of the plan, the operators' will see their debt to banks reduced from €3.6 billion. A further solution, which is also being considered by the government, is to dissolve financially challenged operators in an orderly fashion. At present, the operators and the government are in negotiation over a possible solution.

The motorway toll operations said to be in financial difficulties include the radial roads in Madrid, the Madrid - Barajas airport motorway, the Madrid - Toledo motorway, La Ocana - La Roda motorway, Cartagena - Vera and Alicante's ring road.

During the first two months of 2014, traffic volumes on Spain's toll motorways decreased by 0.73% on the same period the previous year to 12,514 vehicles per day. This is the lowest volume in 17 years and 35.8% lower than the highest figure ever registered in 2007. Traffic figures for January 2014 went down by 1.6% on January a year before and by 12.7% the previous month. At the end of 2013, traffic figures at Spain's toll motorways had dropped by 33.6% on the highest ever figures from 2006 to 15,864 vehicles per day.

Related Content

  • Julián Núñez, head of ASECAP offers a little Spanish enlightenment
    May 1, 2018
    Julián Núñez, president of ASECAP, gets his teeth into the vision of a European strategy for toll roads. David Arminas reports from Madrid Getting European politicians to agree to a long-term cross-border highway infrastructure programme for toll roads is extremely difficult. It’s a bit like pulling teeth. People want to avoid the pain. This is perhaps a bad analogy to use in the case of Julián Núñez, president of ASECAP - European Association of Operators of Toll Road Infrastructures. Núñez had just sat
  • Nationalisation plan for Madrid motorways
    July 2, 2012
    The Spanish Ministry of Development is considering nationalising the loss-making radial motorways in Madrid through state-owned company Seittsa. The plan would involve putting in place a toll-payment system to generate revenues to pay interests on debts and maintenance of the roads. The Ministry has already detected 600 locations where remote controlled payment systems could be installed in Madrid to charge those using the roads. The same plan includes a project to nationalise all motorways in Madrid at ris
  • Italian manufacturer body Unacea reveals machine exports
    October 31, 2014
    The Italian construction equipment manufacturer body Unacea has revealed comprehensive information on machine sales and exports. The data shows that construction machine sales in Italy grew 12% in the first nine months of 2014. However exports fell 7% and Unacea believes that the export performance of Italian manufacturers on the world market will have shrunk by the end of the year compared with the figures for 2013. Over the first nine months of 2014, construction equipment sold in the Italian market sto
  • Spain’s Castilla-La Mancha government lays out 12-year road plan
    November 17, 2014
    Spain’s Castilla-La Mancha government lays out 12-year road plan Spain’s regional government of Castilla-La Mancha will spend around US$282 million on new road infrastructure as part of a major 12-year highways strategy. Castilla-La Mancha approved the Third Regional Roads Plan this month which envisaged spending upwards of $1.6 billion in the 12 years. The plan will be reviewed every four years. The landlocked autonomous region of Castilla-La Mancha lies mostly southeast of Madrid and includes