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The Costa del Sol tollroad has been criticized for collecting a large amount of cash without offering discounts to the drivers that use it regularly.
Known by the name AP-7 it runs from Malaga to Sotogrande. This is the most profitable infrastructure in Andalucia.
The road collects around €30 million each year through driver’s taxation, according to an economic report.
The AP-7 tollroad is not a free road.
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Few road users benefit from discounts, bonus programmes or other programs.
The government has announced a subsidy of €1 million – a figure that would result in an eight cent discount per user.
The cost of the entire trip on the AP-7 from Guadiaro until Malaga varies according the season.
Jose Ignacio Landaluce is the Mayor of Algeciras and he has criticized the unfairness in the policy of motorway bonus.
Landaluce commented: “It is incomprehensible why the most expensive motorway in Spain doesn’t receive a similar level of treatment to other regions.”
He hints at other Spanish toll motorways that have received significant amounts of funding, such as the AP-9 in Galicia, which has received a subsidy of €84 million.
Another example is the AP-66 between Oviedo and León. That road has received more than €15 million in subsidies.
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Landaluce criticizes, “The government divides citizens into classes based on their political convenience”.
It seriously harms people in the Gibraltar area and Costa Del Sol.
The mayor has urged all the municipalities of the Gibraltar region to demand for ‘fair and equitable treatment’ in the subsidy policy.
Since its inauguration in 1999, the AP-7 has generated some €1.3 billion in revenues.
The government does not plan to reinstate tolls on roads that have already been freed of tolls.
