The Algarve motorway tolls are going to be discussed in parliament on Thursday with the Left Bloc and the Communist Party wanting tolls abolished and the Social Democrats opting for suspension until the EN125 is finished, which amounts to much the same thing.
Ever since the tolls were foisted on a resistant public in 2011, just as the recession really started to hurt, many of the region’s regular drivers have tried to get the tolls reduced or, better still, abolished. Those that can, have been using the EN125 which even the prime minister has agreed is wholly unsuitable as an alternative route - mind you, that was just before he became prime minister..
The main reason for discontent is that the EU paid for all but a small section of the Via do Infante on the understanding that it was key to the region, free to use and helped develop business and tourism - which it did while it was free but now carries 50% less traffic.
Instead, the motorway has become a big money earner for the concession holder, ultimately controlled by a Spanish parent company, and a significant additional cost to many local businesses.
How is this road so lucrative when few people use it? The general taxpayer chips in each year to make up the cash shortfall caused by the collapse in user numbers. This subsidy has been as much as €40 million in one year, which the concession holder receives on top of the money it collects from drivers rich enough to use the road.
Any vestiges of good sense were taken out of the equation years ago and the anti-toll campaigners, led by CUVI, have spent six largely fruitless years trying to explain that the imposition of tolls is a net loser for the country.
The concession agreement is, of course, stuffed full of secret clauses and has been regarded as highly suspect ever since, with allegations of bribery and corruption rumbling on. The deal certainly is one-sided in favour of the concession holder but we will never know the details as the contract is so secret that not even MPs are allowed to review it.
The withdrawal cost cannot be worked out either, as the contract is so bound in secrecy.
The concession holder outwitted Portugal’s negotiators yet again, or funnelled sufficient funds into politicians’ overseas bank accounts to ensure yet another deal that disadvantages the nation and enriches the Spanish.
On Thursday in parliament there will be a left wing recommendation that the tolls are scrapped, a social democrat suggestion that tolls are suspended until the completion of the EN125 refurbishment works, and the CDS-PP recommending the government should "reverse the increase in the toll cost of the A22 while maintaining a freeze until the EN125 works are over."
The ruling Socialist Party and the People Animals Nature party are the only ones with MPs that have not put in their suggestions, although a government resolution was approved last May to reduce toll prices a little.
With a booming Algarve tourism sector bringing additional vehicles by the tens of thousands, an incomprehensible variety of payment methods, an ‘alternative route’ frequently at a standstill and a hitherto entrenched government refusing to see financial sense, the chances of change have never been better but remain slim.
