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GUIDE ON PAGES 40 - 52 ISSUE NO. 1799
26 Dec 2019 - 1 Jan 2020
COSTA BLANCA SOUTH
YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION
TOLL FREE NEW YEAR THE AP-7 motorway will be free on the Costa Blanca in Spain’s Valencia region on the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve. The company Abertis, whose concession runs out on January 1, will lift the toll barriers as the New Year is rung in, marking an end to 40 years of tolls. But whether the road remains free to use in the longer term is not a question that has been settled. The national government has been sending ambiguous messages for months while experts, business organisations and affected sectors warn about the consequences of a proposal for free of charge that many, except transport companies, consider a wrong move.
FREE: No more tolls from January 1. Several city councils and the Chamber of Contractors warned of the loss of up to €10 million in revenue from the IBI currently paid by the AP7 as it passes through the corresponding municipalities.
Experts say that if the State takes over collection of fees, no one can guarantee that the proceeds are allocated to the maintenance of the roads. José Manuel Vasallo, from the University of Madrid, said: “Au-
ditors in Spain and the European Union have reiterated that the management of public companies leaves much to be desired in terms of efficiency in decision making and the extra costs of the works.”
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