The Via do Infante (A22), the Algarve's main motorway, will no longer have tolls from 1st January 2025, after 13 years of public protest since the road became a toll road in 2011.
In a region heavily dependent on tourism and road traffic, the end of the tolls will not only facilitate mobility throughout the Algarve, but also impact the more than 80,000 vehicles that cross the Guadiana International Bridge between Ayamonte (Spain) and Vila Real de Santo António every day for work.
The end of tolls has long been demanded, not only by Portuguese and Spanish drivers, but also by the region's business community, which has always seen this charge as an obstacle to cross-border economic development.
According to estimates put forward by industry officials, the end of tolls on the A22 will have a budgetary impact of 157 million euros on Portuguese public finances. In recent years, however, discounts applied to tolls had already led to a significant drop in revenue, contributing to this decision.
The parliamentary debate that culminated in the approval of this measure was marked by political tension, in a context that was already unstable after the last legislative elections. Even so, the proposal ended up moving forward, fulfilling a demand that dates back to the moment when the Via do Infante became a toll road in 2011.
With the end of tolls, the A22 should return to its original SCUT model, allowing for more accessible traffic and contributing to the economic and social development of the region. January 1, 2025, therefore, marks the end of over a decade of protest and the beginning of a new phase for mobility in the south of the country.
