_20241202190703-U82725830548YBX-1200x840@Diario%20Sur.jpg)
Transport
Sections
Highlight
Sections
Highlight
Would you be happy to pay 105 euros per month to drive from Malaga city to Marbella and back, Monday to Friday every month - including summer? Well, this would be the rate for regular drivers, especially commuters and students, if the same criteria were applied here on the coast as for two of the toll motorways that are most subsidised by the Spain's central government; the AP-9, in Galicia, and the AP-66, which links León and Asturias. In both cases, frequent users pay around 50 per cent of the normal rate.
Currently someone making 20 return journeys per month on the AP-7 toll motorway between Malaga and Marbella pays around 169 euros per month. This is 20% less than the basic price, which would add up to 210 euros for the same route (Malaga-Marbella, 20 days per month, round trip).
However, on other Spanish toll roads frequent drivers already pay half as much and if the same discount was applied to the AP-7 in Malaga, the savings would be 37.9% more than they are now, amounting to 105 euros per month.
At present, the AP-7 already applies progressive discounts according to the number of journeys made in the same month (from Malaga to Marbella, for example, there are two tolls one on the outward journey and one on the return, on each trip), in accordance with the concession contract and the tariffs, which are available on the Ausol website.
The first 10 toll passes are paid at 100%; from 11 to 15 have a 5% discount; from 16 to 20, 10%; from 21 to 25, 20%; from 26 to 30, 30%; from 31 to 35, 40% and more than 36, have a 50% bonus.
To do so, users do not have to register anywhere, but must always pay with the same bank card or with the electronic toll system (Via-T). In addition, all regular users can avoid the higher summer toll and pay the same all year round.
To do so, they have to meet a single requirement: by 1 June, they must have made 60 journeys in the previous four months. This is the equivalent of eight return trips from Malaga to Marbella each month, in the previous four months (which is two trips per week).
In this case, during the high season, the current discount is as much as 50%, since instead of the 344 euros that would have to be paid without the discount, the same 169 euros as the rest of the year are maintained (always taking into account the example of the most common route, from Malaga to Marbella, with 20 round trips each month).
On Thursday 28 November, on the same day that a meeting was held in Malaga to discuss this issue, and where the Ministry of Transport even put on the table the possibility of 50% discounts, albeit without clarifying the details, the government's cabinet of ministers approved the discounts for the AP-9 motorway in Galicia for 2025.
The announcement that the central government would increase the budget to 81.6 million euros provoked indignation among mayors during the meeting because of the comparative disadvantage compared to the Costa del Sol, where only one million euros is planned for discounts. However, in the case of the AP-9 there is no free high-capacity public alternative (as is the case in Malaga with the A-7).
In the case of light vehicles, the extra discount has been increased from 20 to 50% for users who make at least 20 journeys per month and pay with electronic tolls (Via-T). So, for example, a driver who makes the journey between Vigo and Santiago 20 times a month, which is the most common, now pays 183.20 euros. With the new tariff, they will spend 114.50.
From July 2021, all return journeys on the AP-9 will be free of charge if they are made within a maximum period of 24 hours, provided that they are paid for using the electronic toll device and the return journey is the same as the outward journey. In addition, this discount applies every day, including public holidays.
Another example of a toll motorway with a significant discount is the AP-66. In this case, last October Spain's BOE official state bulletin published the royal decree modifying the tolls on the road linking León and Asturias.
This modification affects light vehicles that regularly use the Huerna motorway from the first journey. This means that the current discounts have been increased for users who make more than three complete journeys a month, with discounts of 15% on the first journey, 30% on the second journey and 60% from the third onwards.
The progressive discounts will be applied every day of the week for each journey, regardless of the direction. As an example, a driver making six journeys a month between León and Oviedo would have to pay, without discounts, 90 euros. But with the new discounts, they will have to pay 47.25 euros, which means almost a 50% saving.
Publicidad
Publicidad
Publicidad
Publicidad
Esta funcionalidad es exclusiva para suscriptores.
Reporta un error en esta noticia
Comentar es una ventaja exclusiva para registrados
¿Ya eres registrado?
Inicia sesiónNecesitas ser suscriptor para poder votar.