A study on the economic impact of the introduction of tolls on the Via do Infante will be released shortly. It has been funded by the Junta de Andalucia, the government of the neighbouring Spanish region, and complied by respected journalist Carlos Castellanos.
A study has been promised by the Portuguese government since the tolls were unilaterally imposed on the Algarve region in 2011 yet interested and affected parties wait in vain for this promise to be carried out.
There is a scheduled debate in parliament on December 6th, two days short of the tolls' two year anniversary, but only because the requisite number of signatures have been collected on a petition.
The last thing the current government wants is a debate on the tolls issue which has turned into a financial disaster and an embarrassing drain on central government resources. Far form ‘user pays’ it has been the general taxpayer in Portugal which has stumped up the subsidies handed over to the Spanish operator, guaranteed a baseline revenue irrespective of traffic volume.
The Spanish study will focus on the impact of the tolls on both sides of the border. Carlos Castellanos personally has interviewed, among many others, João Vasconcelos who has led the anti-tolls pressure group Committee of Users of the Via do Infante (CUVI) and who now is a Left Bloc councillor in Portimão.
The study is being completed just as the CUVI members prepare to go to Lisbon on December 6th to attend the debate on the second petition presented to Parliament, demanding the full suspension of tolls on the Via do Infante.
The petition in Parliament will be debated, not voted on, but according to João Vasconcelos, the Left Bloc “will present a draft resolution,” in order to proceed to a vote, "I believe that the Communists will come forward with a proposal also," he added.
João Vasconcelos welcomes the completion of the study that CUVI has been waiting for, while he regretted “that this study has not been done by the Portuguese Government, as promised."
