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

  • Road pricing could boost UK road investment
    July 4, 2012
    UK road users receive a mere £4 billion in capital investment, and congestion increases. Road pricing could provide the roads needed and reduce taxes, says a new report UK motorists receive a "paltry" £4 billion (€5 billion) investment in road capacity in return for the €57.5 billion a year they contribute in road user taxes, according to the 2008/9 Road File, published by the UK Road Users Alliance (RUA). Over the last decade, this infrastructure spend has led to a minimal 1% increase in the road network t
    Read More
  • New non-destructive testing technologies for roads and bridges
    July 11, 2018
    Two new technologies for non-destructive testing offer key benefits, one suiting road surfaces, the other suiting concrete structures - Kristina Smith reports Dynatest has developed a new way to measure and record the state of pavements, using a machine that travels at the same speed as traffic. The Rapid Pavement Tester (Raptor) has been seven years in the making and offers road owners the chance to have comprehensive surveys without the need to disrupt traffic. “People have been wanting to do this for
    Read More
  • Bratislava bypass and Karpaty tunnel completion set for 2030
    June 18, 2018
    Slovakia’s national motorway company NDS expects that the Bratislava bypass on the D4 motorway together with the Karpaty tunnel will be completed around 2030. The D4 motorway is part of the trans-European transport network and will connect with the planned R7 expressway linking western and eastern Slovakia, and the existing D1 and D2 motorways”. Apart from construction works on part of the D4 motorway, another two stretches are planned on this link, including the 3.6km stretch from Devinska Nova Ves t
    Read More
  • Bratislava bypass and Karpaty tunnel completion set for 2030
    June 18, 2018
    Slovakia’s national motorway company NDS expects that the Bratislava bypass on the D4 motorway together with the Karpaty tunnel will be completed around 2030. The D4 motorway is part of the trans-European transport network and will connect with the planned R7 expressway linking western and eastern Slovakia, and the existing D1 and D2 motorways”. Apart from construction works on part of the D4 motorway, another two stretches are planned on this link, including the 3.6km stretch from Devinska Nova Ves t
    Read More

Highlighted Content