Portimão council has voted on the motion "For an Algarve free of the tragedy of tolls and for the full and adequate upgrading of the EN125," presented by Left Bloc MP and local councillor, João Vasconcelos.The document proposed that the council should support "the urgent elimination of toll on the Via do Infante motorway," as well as, "the urgent upgrading of the EN125, between Olhão and Vila Real de Santo António."
The problem here is that this is a socialist council which, although agreeing that "a total abolition of tolls in Via do Infante would be fair," could not be seen to vote against the government’s policy on the region's iniquitous road tolls.
The socialist said of the tolls, that "the conditions for scrapping them have not yet been met, but the Government already has reduced tolls by 15% and, will at the end of the legislature, reduce them by a further 15%. This is the 30% reduction it committed to before the 2015 elections."
In 2015, the wannabe prime minister, António Costa, said he would scrap the Algarve's motorway tolls but did a swift U-turn on gaining power.
Regarding the EN125 roadworks, the Portimão socialists managed weakly to claim that, "it was the previous government that wanted a two-stage repair job," and the delay in starting the works between Olhão and Vila Real de Santo António is all due to the Court of Auditors.
