Spain eyes new standard contract for long-term road development

Spain is looking to revamp its contractual formulae for large infrastructure work following moves to limit profits from long-term concession deals. The Ministry of Works is putting together a hybrid contract template for use with the Extraordinary Investment Plan for Roads. The previous government had tried to launch the investment plan on the back of around 20 concession contracts of over 20 years. The hybrid contract would aim to save road investments worth around €5 billion. It would be a mixed con
November 7, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Spain is looking to revamp its contractual formulae for large infrastructure work following moves to limit profits from long-term concession deals.


The Ministry of Works is putting together a hybrid contract template for use with the Extraordinary Investment Plan for Roads. The previous government had tried to launch the investment plan on the back of around 20 concession contracts of over 20 years.

The hybrid contract would aim to save road investments worth around €5 billion. It would be a mixed contract, with two years of construction and five years of concession including maintenance.

The Spanish concession sector has been in turmoil since lower-than-predicted traffic volumes forced several large concessionaires into bankruptcy. Earlier this year, the Spanish government calculated the cost of rescuing the nine bankrupt motorways at €1.8 billion. This is about 10% less than previously estimated, according to a report in the Spanish financial newspaper Expansión.

The government has been trying for the past several years to facilitate a deal with banks to get the motorways out of debt and so to not add to the state’s own debt.

In 2017,  the government agreed that the state-owned transport infrastructure firm Seittsa would manage the nine bankrupt motorways.

Finance & Funding

Related Content

  • Fehmarnbelt Tunnel start looms on the horizon - 2020
    October 20, 2017
    Work on the €7 billion immersed tunnel under the Fehmarnbelt could begin in 2020, according to the Danish state planning and operating company Femern. A construction start has been delayed on the 18km tunnel that will run between Germany and Denmark because of environmental and consultation issues in Germany. But Claus Baunkjaer, chief executive of Femern, said he is confident that Germany will give approval next year with another two years of preparations. Baunkjaer noted that Denmark is all set to p
    Read More
  • Mostotrest won another tender for building of Moscow-St Petersburg highway
    February 20, 2014
    The award for a key stretch of the Moscow-St Petersburg highway has been awarded - Eugene Gerden writes As expected by analysts, Mostotrest, owned by the Rotenberg brothers, won the tender for the construction of the sixth and longest section of the Moscow-St Petersburg highway. Under the conditions of the tender the company will build 209km of the highway (334-543km), which will pass through the Tver and Novgorod regions of Russia. The cost of construction is 144.6 billion Rubles (US$4.51 billion), 16 bill
    Read More
  • UK report warns Scotland's roads likely to get worse
    November 12, 2018
    The UK’s Institution of Civil Engineers has urged the Scottish government to make long-term funding for roads a higher priority. The ICE’s call comes after publishing its report State of the Nation Scotland 2018: infrastructure investment. In it, the ICE says that the newly formed Scottish Infrastructure Commission must be independent, transparent and be evidence-led in its recommendations to the Scottish government.
    Read More
  • Financial close reached for A9 Gaasperdammerweg motorway work
    November 25, 2014
    Financial close has been reached for expansion of the A9 motorway near Amsterdam in the Netherlands. BNG Bank, DZ BANK, ING, KBC, SMBC and Société Général have made available a short-term debt of US$174 million (€140 million) and half of the long-term debt of nearly $509 million (€410 million). The European Investment Bank will provide the other half of the long-term debt. Mott MacDonald is the lenders’ technical advisor to the consortium IXAS Zuid-Oost, which has the public-private contract to expand
    Read More

Highlighted Content