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It often feels like roadworks in Spain are a constant hassle, with very little to show for the inconvenience. The government is always trying to squeeze a few euros from the budgets to fill a pothole or repair a broken signpost, to the extent that Brussels is suggesting dual carriageway tolls to cover the shortfall.

 

But incredibly, just three autonomous communities actually account for almost half of the country’s roads that require urgent repairs, within a year, if they’re not to crumble away altogether.

 

Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha and Andalucía account for 48% of roads in the worst condition in Spain, 16,494 out of a total of 33,966 kilometres. These are very serious issues, both structural (potholes and crocodile skin) and superficial (longitudinal and transverse cracks, and flaking) that can affect safety and ultimately impact drivers' wallets.

 

The data has been presented by the Spanish Road Association (AEC), a non-profit organisation that has been auditing the state of the Spanish road network for 40 years. Its report indicates that 7,090 kilometres of Castilian-Leonese roads, 39% of the total, are in urgent need of repair; and that on another 2,864 kilometres, restoration work should be carried out within a maximum of four years.

 

In total, the Castilla y León government would need to spend more than €2.7 billion to fund these projects.

In the case of Castilla-La Mancha, the AEC has identified more than 5,000 kilometres of roads requiring urgent action (40%) and more than 2,300 kilometres (19%) where short-term action is necessary.

 

To achieve this, the regional government would need to spend more than €1.8 billion.

 

Meanwhile, in Andalucía, the staggering cost has been estimated at more than €1.7 billion. Here, the organisation has found serious deterioration on more than 4,300 kilometres and defects that require repair within a maximum of four years on more than 2,600 kilometres of roads.

 

If we take the percentage of roads in need of repair as a reference, the regional map changes somewhat. In this case, the regions with the greatest needs are Aragon (68%), Galicia and Castilla-La Mancha (59% in both cases), and the Region of Murcia (58%). For Spain as a whole, a budget of €13.491 billion would be required for these works.

 

The problem is two-fold: the roads should never be allowed to get into such a state in the first place and when they do, there’s no money to repair them properly. Going forward, the Spanish Road Association is calling for a "proprietary, comprehensive and sustainable" model that helps ensure the proper maintenance of roads, but that’s easier said than done.

 

Enter the long-standing debate over tolls. The association of major construction and concessionaire companies, Seopan, proposed this week setting an average toll of 3 cents per kilometre for passenger cars and 14 cents for trucks and heavy goods vehicles on the entire highway network.

 

Seopan asserts that this measure would raise more than €5.7 billion each year, which could help alleviate some debts and pay for essential maintenance works.

 

 

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