Loulé councillors unanimously have approved a motion presented by the Left Bloc demanding the permanent suspension of tolls on the Via do Infante.
This is the second council that has voted on the matter as Loulé joins Portimão in unanimous condemnation of a tolls system that costs more to operate than it raises in additional income.
This is described as a very important message from Loulé in the week that the topic is to be discussed in parliament, and then only because of a petition from the Committee of Users of the Via do Infante (CUVI) that has reached the requisite number of signatures.
On December 6th, members of CUVI will travel to Lisbon to attend the debate having presented the petition that demands an end the tolls on the A22.
"Let's see the position of the Algarve’s MPs when it is made clear that the Via do Infante is making losses of tens of millions of euros a year now that tolls are charged, and only the concessionaire benefits,” according to CUVI boss João Vasconcelos.
The last time that tolls were debated by Algarve mayors at their AMAL meeting they voted for the tolls. How this was ever going to be a good idea remains a mystery but voting took place along party lines and Vasconcellos will be keen to spot any Algarve MPs that vote for the tolls in parliament and then cry about their inequity when back in the Algarve - you know who you are.
In Loulé there is now support for the anti-toll stance mainly through the efforts of the new mayor Vítor Aleixo who has been willing to push the debate and engage with CUVI to look at the wider issues around the tolls and their affect on the Algarve economy.
