The first motorways in Spain where built in the 1960’s by the private sector based on a toll concession system. These companies were in charge of financing, building, operating and maintaining their motorways under the supervision of the State.
Then, the Central State and other regional administrations granted more toll motorways and nowadays the toll motorway network reaches more than 3,300 km.
The Spanish toll motorway sector was represented since 1973 by ASETA (Asociación de Sociedades Españolas Concesionarias de Autopistas, Túneles, Puentes y Vías de Peaje). In 2014, ASETA was integrated in SEOPAN (Asociación de Empresas Constructoras y Concesionarias de Infraestructuras).
Diego de León, 50 - 4a pl E-28006 Madrid T : +34 91 563 0504 F : +34 91 562 5844 W : http://www.seopan.es
Toll motorways have been crucial for the economic development of the country and many cities and regions have profited of a safe and fast transport of passengers and goods through our roads
In Spain toll motorways coexist with a much bigger network of expressways that have been financed through public funds, free of toll for the user (the share is 20% toll vs 80% non-tolled). This reality has a lot of implications and produces an important disequilibrium that need to be rebalanced.
Moreover, the crisis had an important impact on the road network: On one hand, toll motorways have suffered important decreases of traffic and some recently awarded motorways that are in their ramp-up phase are in a critical economic situation. In the other and, regarding the toll-free network, the lack of public funds for building new roads and maintaining the existing ones requires exploring other alternatives to finance and keep the road network in perfect conditions.
Thus, regarding to the future, it is necessary to review our road financing system in order to rebalance the existing situation, to make an efficient use of our road network and to promote new infrastructure projects in Spain.
Click here to download the 2021 map of the Spanish motorway network - JPG format
Data as for 31/12/2022 (Source: 2023 Statistical Bulletin)