Costa toll roads report record number of motorists as annual hike in summer prices come into effect
Charges to use the AP-7 along the coast and the AP-46 Las Pedrizas in Malaga have increased by more than 50% specifically during the peak months with the highest number of users
Francisco Jiménez
Malaga
Monday, 26 June 2023, 13:23
Two toll motorways in Malaga have increased their rates for motorists using them by more than 50% for the summer season.
Both the AP-7 (Costa del Sol) and the AP-46 (Las Pedrizas), which closed 2022 with record numbers of users, will keep the raised prices of tolls until at least September.
From 1 June until the end of September, the cost of driving a light vehicle (motorbike, car, van or minibus) through the three toll areas on the Costa del Sol motorway between Fuengirola and Manilva (Calahonda, San Pedro and Estepona) has jumped from 10.60 euros to 17.25 euros, an increase of 62%.
The number of vehicles which pass through these checkpoints typically doubles at this time of the year. According to statistics published by the Ministry of Transport, August 2022 closed with an average daily traffic volume of 47,028 vehicles, compared to 25,133 in January last year. Over the year as a whole, an average of 34,257 vehicles passed along the AP-7 every day, the highest figure since this toll road came into service in 1999.
Las Pedrizas toll road is free at night
The higher rate on the Las Pedrizas motorway was brought forward to May and will last until the end of October. During this period, the toll costs 5.60 euros, 51% more than the 3.70 euros charged during the rest of the year.
What remains unchanged about this toll road is that it will continue to be one of the few where it is free to use at night (between 12am and 6am for light vehicles, and between 10pm and 8am for heavy vehicles).
In addition to the updated tolls at the start of 2023, users must pay an extra 1% per year for 14 years following the 24-million-euros invested in works along the route.
The number of days on which the Las Pedrizas toll will be charged at the high season rate increases to 250 days a year compared to the 139 initially set (from June to September and 17 days from the Friday of Sorrows to the Sunday following Easter Sunday).
The new links with the western ring road (MA-20) in Malaga city, and with the MA-3404 in Casabermeja, contributed to the AP-46 closing 2022 with its best figures since it became operational in October 2011, with an average of 15,843 vehicles per day, 18.6% more than in 2021. August was its best month with 23,023 vehicles per day compared to 11,932 in January.
