The R-2 motorway will have a toll-free section from 2023

The government was expected to introduce pay-per-use charges on all Spanish motorways throughout 2023. However, this decision has been delayed due to the fragile economic situation across the European Union. To offset this delay in implementing the measure, it has been announced that this year, 2023, a section of the R-2 motorway will be freed from tolls.

It is not a very long stretch, as it will cover a length of 6.5 kilometres on which drivers will not have to pay to travel. This section is located near Guadalajara and connects with two of the most important industrial estates in the region, Henares and the Ciudad del Transporte.

This section of the R-2 motorway has been the subject of numerous complaints from drivers, especially lorries and commercial vehicles, who had demanded that it be free since it is used to access these industrial estates. The alternative route is, for the time being, the Fontanar road. This has become an alternative access route to the industrial estates, which makes it a problem area in terms of heavy traffic.

The proposed solution was to widen that road, but this did not happen. The other option was to free that stretch of motorway from tolls, so this is the one that has been chosen to relieve congestion on the road and provide safe access to the industrial zone. The Junta de Castilla-La Mancha will take charge of paying the toll on that stretch and will allow lorries and commercial vehicles to use the motorway and avoid the problem section.

With this liberalisation, the number of toll-free motorway kilometres on the Spanish road network increases. Over the years, several motorway sections have been freed from tolls, such as the AP-1 in its entirety; the AP-7 between Alicante and Tarragona, between Tarragona and La Jonquera, and between Montmeló and El Papiol; the AP-4 between Seville and Cádiz; and the AP-2 between Zaragoza and El Vendrell. In 2023, toll-free status for the C-32 takes effect on a section in the Baix Penedès.

Now, this section of the R-2 joins them, and it seems that the AP-68 between Zaragoza and Bilbao will not become toll-free until 2026. Other motorway sections will also become toll-free as their concession periods end, allowing drivers to use them without paying a toll.