The Minister of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda on Thursday denied some statements made by the Director General of Traffic, Pere Navarro, in relation to the implementation of new tolls on Spanish motorways.
During a public act in Pineda de Mar (Maresme) to publicize the protocol for the pacification of the N-II highway in the region, Sánchez stated that “the government acquired the commitment to release the tolls and has done so” which It would come into contradiction in the event that payment formulas were now implemented on Spanish motorways.
The minister, on the other hand, did assume that “reasonable formulas must be found so that the cost of maintaining these express roads does not come out of the State budget,” she said without venturing any option, nor that of payment for use, known as a vignette . Sánchez concluded that “we will have to find a balance” but the formula to be adopted “will be agreed with the territories and the transport sector”. At the moment, she stated: “there is no planned system”.
For his part, the general director of Traffic, Pere Navarro, has been forced to rectify and has “deeply” regretted the “confusion” created by his words about tolls on the highways and has recalled that his department does not have direct information nor powers attributed to rule on its implementation.
This was also stated by sources from the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) when asked about Navarro’s words in an interview this Thursday on a regional television program, where he stated that in 2024 Spain must begin the process of implementing tolls on highways “by imposition of Brussels”. In addition, he added that “this is indeed a great issue for an agreement between the two major parties.”
After reiterating that Navarro regrets the confusion generated, the sources have insisted that the head of the DGT claimed in his statements a kind of consensus so that the measures considered most appropriate can be adopted, as he has stated on other occasions. .
