In the two years since the toll system was imposed on the Via do Infante (A22) motorway across the Algarve it has caused a "worsening economic and social situation."
This is the view of the communists who today mounted protests at eight locations on the EN 125 to highlight the economic folly of the tolls system and the damage it has done and continues to do to the Algarve's economy.
The EN 125, which has seen dramatically increased traffic since the introduction of tolls on December 8, 2011, is the only alternative to the Via do Infante and the communists took full advantage of the slow morning and afternoon traffic flows to group at various roundabouts and deliver leaflts to motorists.
Vasco Cardoso, leader of the Algarve communists and a Central Committee member, said today that "the results of this robbery from the population are plain to see as the tolls have caused higher costs and have restricted mobility in the region."
"This is an untenable situation,” said Cardoso adding that the call for the suspension of the tolls has been going on for two years, and has been rejected by parliament six times.
Besides parliamentary initiatives, the Communist Party had decided to "demonstrate at eight points along the Algarve's EN 125, which takes the diverted traffic from the A22, and ask motorists to join in and hoot their horns in agreement."
Vasco Cardoso said his party’s protest actions "will not stop here because the problem will only be solved on the day that the tolls cease to exist and where the Via do Infante is returned to the public."
