Few demands attract greater agreement in Galicia, from A Coruña to Vigo, than the free access to the AP-9, the runaway toll highway that structures the Atlantic strip where 60% of the population lives. It opened at the dawn of democracy and was going to be exempt from payment in 2013, but decisions by the PSOE and PP governments have condemned its 25,000 daily drivers to continue paying until 2048 a total of 25 euros for traveling 220 kilometers and charging with continuous rate increases. The spokespersons of the three parties represented in the Galician Parliament have defended this Tuesday in the Congress of Deputies a law to transfer the road to the Xunta and end its “unaffordable” tolls.
Due to the direction of the vote advanced by the different political groups, the processing of the norm is likely to be approved. It is the fourth attempt in eight years and we will have to see if this time the ship reaches port. Alberto Pazos (PP) has warned against a possible blockade by the Government of Pedro Sánchez because the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, has already objected to the request. Ana Pontón (BNG) has reproached the PSOE for using “without any shame” the “excuses” that Mariano Rajoy’s Executive once used to question the transfer. The AP-9 “is already paid for, it should be ours,” claimed, for his part, the socialist José Ramón Gómez Besteiro, who denounces the “bleeding” that this toll road represents for “family economies and business competitiveness.” .
The transfer of the AP-9 was already in Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s electoral program when in 2009 he ran for the Presidency of the Xunta for the first time. The representative of Alfonso Rueda’s PP, who has expressed himself in Galician despite his party’s opposition to the use of co-official languages in Congress, has cited a few words from his leader, absent from his seat, to claim that Galicia “does not can settle for less” than other communities already enjoy. “Ladies and gentlemen, heed the call and Galicia will know how to recognize you among the good and generous,” Pazos said in reference to the lyrics of the Galician anthem. Vox rejects the measure and accuses the popular party of “milking with nationalism”: “We will have zero seats [en Galicia]but we are not selling ourselves.”
PP and PSOE blame each other for the years that have passed since this demand was first raised. For the nationalist Pontón, the delay is explained because “the state forces alternate in discriminating against Galicia” and remembers that the millionaire rescue of the Madrid radio stations was carried out “without problem” because the request came “from the banks and the big companies.” construction companies.”
Brussels investigates whether the concession is illegal
The transfer of the highway to the Xunta is not the only avenue that has been opened to try to raise the barriers of the AP-9. The European Commission (EC) is processing a file against Spain that may end in the cancellation of the concession. Brussels is investigating whether the extension of the contract with the concessionaire approved by the Government of José María Aznar was illegal, since a public tender was not called. “We are getting closer to the cancellation of the concession. The EC has gotten serious about this,” says Diego Maraña, spokesperson and founder of the En Colectivo consumer association that reported to the EU.
What affects the most is what happens closest. So you don’t miss anything, subscribe.
Subscribe
Brussels has sent a second letter of summons to the Government of Spain for the alleged illegality of the contract and has given it until the end of this month to present allegations. Sánchez’s Executive could now assume that the extension of the concession is null and void and release the AP-9 by compensating the concessionaire Audasa, or continue defending Aznar’s measure while awaiting the final ruling from the European Commission. Minister Puente has already advanced that he sees it as unfeasible to rescue this highway because, he maintains, it would cost 4,000 million euros.
The figure has been copied by Puente to the Rajoy Government, which hid behind it in 2016. However, Audasa itself estimates the compensation that would correspond to it at around 1,000 million. “Audasa must be rubbing his hands because the minister has quadrupled what he can claim,” says Maraña ironically, who warns that the transfer of the road to Galicia “does not solve the problem, but it does bring the solution closer”: “Everything that That is to say, bringing the highway closer to the management of the Xunta is positive because from here the perception is different from that of Madrid, which passes by the Galicians.”
Great benefits for a foreign-owned concessionaire
The AP-9 passes through five of the seven cities (Ferrol, A Coruña, Santiago, Pontevedra and Vigo) and “supports a good part of the economy and daily mobility” of the community, as can be read in the proposal debated this Tuesday. Its tolls are among the most expensive in Spain and the concessionaire breaks profit records. In 2023, Audasa earned 82 million, 25% more than the previous year. This company was born public, but the Aznar Government privatized it. Today it is in the hands of the Itínere group, 100% owned by foreign shareholders with the Dutch fund APG at the helm.
The company pockets 60 million of public money each year. These are funds that the Administration injects through bonuses and shadow tolls to somewhat reduce the high bill that drivers pay on the AP-9. Their tolls rose 6.55% in January, among the largest increases in Spain. This infrastructure is “a mine” for Itínere, Maraña emphasizes, because the company has been delaying “as much as possible” the amortization of the infrastructure in order to distribute more dividends.
The text of the organic law proposal blessed by Rueda’s PP and the PSdeG includes criticism of the extension of the concession and measures approved by two Galician Ministers of Development from both parties. The socialist José Blanco first and the popular Ana Pastor later allowed the winner of the road to finance works and bonuses with extraordinary toll increases that, as the proposal now admits, represent “a comparative grievance for Galicia” with “consequences of special relevance” . Among the damages of those decisions are cited “the loss of competitiveness” of companies, the “transfer of traffic to conventional roads”, the “increase in accidents” or even “more greenhouse gas emissions.” Neither of these two former ministers are in politics anymore: Blanco has a consulting firm to advise companies and Pastor has just signed for an insurance company.
All parties in Galicia consider it “economically and socially unaffordable to maintain the current conditions of the tolls” on this highway and demand “more direct management that is closer to the territory” because “it will entail greater sensitivity, which will result in an improvement in quality.” from service”. Its transfer to the Xunta was attempted in the Congress of Deputies for the first time in 2016. There were two more attempts, but they all crashed at some point during their processing in the San Jerónimo race. “Will this be the definitive one or are they going to continue making fun of the Galician citizens?” Pontón asked this Tuesday from the stand.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_
#Galicia #fights #Madrid #historical #demand #unites #management #free #access #AP9