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AP68 dohainik-gratis platform demands free AP-68 highway

The platform will submit motions in Biscay and Alava institutions to request the highway's liberalization and free use.

Generic image: AP-68 highway toll booth closed, with a blurred Basque Country landscape in the background.
IA

Generic image: AP-68 highway toll booth closed, with a blurred Basque Country landscape in the background.

The AP68 dohainik-gratis platform will present motions in the municipalities of Aiaraldea and in the General Assemblies of Bizkaia and Álava to request that the AP-68 highway be free.

The AP68 dohainik-gratis platform will file motions in town councils in Aiaraldea and in the General Assemblies of Bizkaia and Álava aiming to request the liberalization of the AP-68 highway, also known as the Vasco-Aragonesa. The current private concession for this road ends next November, after which the Biscay and Álava sections will be managed by the two Diputaciones. Although they are considering maintaining some form of pay-per-use system with reduced tariffs, the platform rejects any type of toll.
According to AP68 dohainik-gratis, "in Aiaraldea we will not accept bonuses or soft tolls." They argue that the funds the Diputaciones intend to continue collecting would be better invested in local commerce, which needs support. The platform has over 8,500 signatures on Change.Org and the backing of unions such as ELA, UGT, Lab, as well as works councils from Mercedes, Tubacex, and Vidrala.
The platform presents twelve reasons to advocate for the highway's free use. They point out that the concession, originally set to end in 2011, was unilaterally extended by 15 years by the government of José María Aznar. They criticize that now the political parties that opposed this measure in 2011 (PNV, EH Bildu, PSE) are preparing a new regulation to charge users themselves, unlike the previous management by Abertis. Furthermore, they indicate that the residents of Aiaraldea have been the most affected over these 15 years, paying tolls to Abertis and later to the Diputaciones of Araba and Bizkaia.
Other arguments include the elimination of territorial discrimination, as Araba has six other free motorways, and both the Ararteko (Basque Ombudsman) and the European Court have ruled against discriminatory tolls. They also mention that using the highway reduces the carbon footprint and that its free use would boost the economic development of Aiaraldea by removing a barrier for new companies to establish themselves.
The platform denounces that tolls do not guarantee social cohesion and that the maintenance of Araba's road network is overfunded by fuel taxes. Finally, they raise concerns about the increase in heavy trucks passing through the center of Laudio to avoid the new toll gates on the Bi625, endangering pedestrians and cyclists.

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