The Government insists on denying the implementation of tolls on highways despite the correction of Brussels
The government denies it again. Both President Pedro Sánchez and the Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez, have assured once again that the implementation of a toll system on Spanish highways is not in the Executive's plans.. The difference with the denial of recent days is that this Thursday comes after the European Commission stated that Spain had committed to incorporating pay-per-use from 2024 in the recovery plan.
In the first place, it has been Pedro Sánchez who has denied this possibility. He has not mentioned the statements from Brussels -the Commission's press conference was held very shortly before the president spoke- and has said that they are “hoaxes” spread by the PP and Vox. In addition, he has defended that during this legislature the payment has been withdrawn on 1,000 kilometers of highway.
“No matter how much hoax that both Feijóo and Abascal try to spread, that possibility is not incorporated into the Sustainable Mobility Law,” he said in statements to laSexta.
Hours later, and after the press conference given by the economic spokesperson for the European Commission, Veerle Nuyts, in which she highlighted that “the Spanish plan refers to a payment mechanism for the use of roads that will begin in 2024 in line with the principle of 'who pollutes, pays'”, the Minister of Transport has made statements to the media to make a new denial.
“I categorically deny for the umpteenth time that the Government of Spain is going to implement a pay-per-use system. We are not going to do it,” said Raquel Sánchez before participating in an electoral act in Barcelona.
But, like the president, the minister has not made any mention of the words of the Brussels spokeswoman and has focused her attacks on the PP, which she accuses of “lying” with this matter of possible tolls: “The PP continues to lie, they do not tire of lying and it is shameful that the PP does it, when if it were up to them they would be applying a pay-per-use toll system since 2021.”
In his opinion, the “hypocrisy of the PP is the result of his nervousness” a few hours after the end of the electoral campaign and just over two days after the vote. “We are in the last days of the campaign and I think they see that it is the prelude to defeat,” he said.