Staff Reporter
THE national parliament in Portugal on Thursday approved a draft law from the Socialist Party that will see tolls on a number of roads scrapped. Some of these routes connect the country with regions in Spain, such as Andalucia, Castilla y Leon and Galicia.
The plan from the leftist party will be applied to currently paid-for routes that have no safe and high-quality alternatives.
The government estimates that the initiative will cost around €157 million, according to reports in the Spanish press.
Among the roads that will become free of charge is the A22 in the Algarve, which connects to Andalucia; the A4, which joins with Spain’s Zamora province, as well as the A13, A23 and A24, which reaches Ourense.
The measure was approved after a tense debate, which reflected the fragmented nature of the current parliament.
Now that the draft law has been approved, it will still have to go through several stages before coming into force, including its signing by the head of the parliament and the president, before it is sent to the prime minister.
