The astronomical summer started on Monday and will last until 22 September. Sometime before then, discounts on tolls on four Portuguese motorways, including the Algarve’s A22 are hoped to be introduced.
Following comments last week by Prime Minister António Costa that tolls would be reduced this summer, the Minister of Planning and Infrastructure followed suit.
But while the Prime Minister indicated talks with road operators were proving cumbersome, Minister Pedro Marques said that formal discussions were yet to be initiated.
The problem remains the A23 motorway in central Portugal, with Minister Pedro Marques telling a parliamentary commission on Tuesday that “we have made informal contacts with the motorway operator and we are now awaiting an informal answer in order for us to proceed towards formal negotiations.”
Once all the formalities are complete, the Minister said he hoped that the move to reduce tolls would happen this summer, blaming the previous government for the delay in talks being stalled at an informal level.
At the end of April, the government explained that the proposed cut in tolls was justified in that it would increase mobility and economic exchanges in disadvantaged areas in rural Portugal, but added that mainland Portugal’s second wealthiest region, the Algarve, will also benefit as it would be unfair to discriminate.
Recent studies also indicate that by reducing tolls, more drivers would travel on these motorways and that the move could potentially come at very little cost to the taxpayer or actually prove profitable.
One of the biggest potential earners for the state in reducing tolls was found to be the Algarve’s A22 motorway