Fredbargate

Jon here in Spain when they extended the toll road from Estepona to Guadiaro they had by law to upgrade the old N340 coast road.
Also the old road had to be upgraded before they could open the new road which was being built at the same time.
In other words chaos.
Common sense would have allowed the toll road to be built first and used toll free until the coast road was upgraded, but not in Spain.

Jon-Bxl

Hi Fred

Looks like common sense is lacking in more places than Spain. Any co-incidence that these countries have huge debts, mismanagement and bringing the worlds economy to the brink of a major recession?

Something in the 'southern europe genes' maybe???? I am getting very nervous about Italy as well..... 10x Greece and lots of hidden stuff to come out and stress the markets further!

Oooops diverting to one of mymany soapboxes... better to stop now!!!

Thanks
Jon

steph

Hi jon, any news about toll road has it started yet and how do we pay?

EsuriJohn

No news no start date yet if at all.

MikeJ

Have look at this on the Portugal site:-
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=737104

As a result of Spanish pressure the EU issued this statement.

The most interesting paragraph from the EU Press Release is the final one:
The practical effect of non-implementation
Failing to implement this directive appropriately and to communicate to the Commission the relevant information means that Portuguese tolling arrangements risk contradicting the general aims of the directive, such as the prohibition of discrimination or the principle that tolls must be based only on the recovery of infrastructure costs.

As the cost of the motorway was largely provide by the EU then there could be a case that Portugal is in breech of the Directive since it is implementing tolls for the colection of revenue.

-cordoba-

Just back from C. Esuri and I see they have put up a toll sign just over the bridge (in Portuguese). It's covered up but says the 1st toll is in 2km., just past the Montegordo exit. So they may be getting ready to implement it soon.

EsuriJohn

No the boards have been up for months every few km. Latest news is that the legislation is completed but it cannot be implemented until it is published in the official journal. That is being held up since the contracted operator of the system cannot see how he is going to recover any money as use is predicted to be very low. So there is a stand off because the government don't have the money to subsidise the tolls!

Bih

The debate goes on. The president of Portugal has requested further justification from the Portuguese government before signing the law that will allow the introduction of new tolls on motorways, including the A-22. Having commissioned his own legal and economic analysis of the proposal, he is not yet convinced. One argument seems to have some traction: the motorway was built with European funds to improve the local economies of Portugal and Spain via improved transport links; the introduction of tolls would have precisely the opposite effect and therefore may be 'illegal' under EU regulations. At the very least, it nullifies the justification of the original investment. We can but hope.

http://www.huelvainformacion.es/arti...one/peaje.html

Regards

angiescarr

I see Jet 2 are no longer flying to Faro in the months up to Xmas.
I've already stopped looking for flights from Faro.
Oh what a stupid idea the tolls were. Idon't want to waste my time even trying to get hold of the machine thingy...even if I did want to pay the tolls.
Portugal's loss is Seville's gain!

MikeJ

I see that the toll charges are due to start on 1st Jan 2012 - And a Happy New Year to all our readers

MikeCol

Hi, any change that you could tell where you found this info as the last we knew it had to be ratified by the Portuguese President and as far as we are aware this hasn't been given yet. Regards Bryony

Jon-Bxl

Hi On our last trip we went to Seville... and saved HUNDREDS of euros on the total bill Car Hire + Flight. A couple of weeks before we flew out, I went back to the car rental site and saw the exact same car/company advertising cheaper... I called in and they immediately sent me 102quid! If I remember correctly we saved over 700 Euros!!

So it was amazingly significant looking at Seville (and the car pick up was in the terminal).. that it easily justified the 45 mins or so extra drive to / from Seville.

Although Spanish cars will have to pay the tolls as well, I think Faro + tourist boards needs to think very carefully about how they implement these tolls. There are significant problems they havent thought of (that Ive mentioned previously) and now we see many people reconsidering fling to Faro. Portugal needs tourist money!

Jon

MikeJ

It was on the Portuguese TV News (according to a thread on the Portugal site)

Also - a new Iceland has opened in Albufiera, how much toll will that add to our shoppng bills?

angiescarr

I think the Seville car parking charges are competitive too. I was recently away for 3 weeks and left my car with a company called Lavacolla (no affiliation) they collected my car at the airport and delivered it back to the terminal car park for me for just over 100 euros. I had heard from some review that they gave them a complimentary wash too. But that didn't happen.

MikeCol

Hi, yes we saw that post but there has been nothing in local newspapers.

Have been to Iceland, its in Guia at the retail park oppo Leroy Merlin. Really good, has butchers, chilled foods, groceries (including quite a few items from the Waitrose Essentials range) and of course frozen products. Bryony