President of the regional tourist board Turismo do Alentejo e Ribatejo José Manuel Santos has complained today about what he sees as the “unequal treatment” of the Alentejo region concerning others where motorway tolls have been abolished.
“I am not against this measure. I am against not using the same gauge for an important part of the interior of the Alentejo,” he told Lusa.
“We want the Alentejo to be a holiday destination for all those who want to come and enjoy the hospitality, quality and diversity of our tourist resources and products, and we are concerned about measures that favour other regions of the country,” he said.
It is almost certainly an argument that will fall by the wayside, as the tolls that fell on January 1 were those imposed on formerly-SCUT highways, which were never intended as ‘motorways’ per se, and certainly never intended to be ‘tolled’. Indeed, the charging of tolls was always considered illegal by the European Commission.
