Portugal’s finance minister has reiterated that he opposes any elimination of tolls after proposals presented in parliament by the Socialists (PS) and (far-right) Chega.
“The user-pays principle should be followed,” stressed Joaquim Miranda Sarmento at yesterday’s hearing on the detailed assessment of the proposed State Budget for 2026 (OE2026), arguing that these infrastructures have Public-Private Partnership contracts with “significant costs for the State and high maintenance costs”.
He was responding to the PS’s proposal to eliminate tolls on the A6 and A2 (Meco-Marateca) for residents, while Chega wants to abolish payment on other sections of the country, including Alverca and Vila Franca de Xira and the A13 motorway.
For the minister, “these infrastructures provide a service to users that should be paid for by them”, which is why he opposes “any elimination of tolls”.
Referring to the “amendment proposals that the different parliamentary groups have already presented or will present later today,” Miranda Sarmento said it is up to MPs to decide whether they want to maintain the budget as proposed, with a surplus of 0.1% of GDP that allows “0.8% of GDP to be used for PRR loans”, or if they prefer not to have a surplus.
“We have drawn up a budget that reduces taxes and implements the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), and as a result, we have a budget balance of around €260 million, which corresponds to 0.1% of GDP. And it is with this budget margin that parliament has to work,” he stressed.
According to the 2026 State Budget proposal, the executive aims to achieve surpluses of 0.3% of GDP in 2025 and 0.1% in 2026.
The end of tolls on the Algarve’s A22
The A22 became toll-free on January 1, 2025.
Readers are reminded that a proposal to eliminate tolls on sections and subsections of inland motorways and on roads where there were no alternatives was presented in 2024 by the PS and approved with votes in favour from the PS, Chega, BE, PCP, Livre and PAN, with the IL abstaining and the PSD and CDS-PP voting against.
The PS was the driving force behind the abolition of tolls on the Algarve’s A22 motorway (formerly SCUT do Algarve), in fulfilment of an election promise.
It was reported at the time that the measure was expected to have a negative budgetary impact for the State of around €157 to €160 million per year.
This year, it was announced that Igneo had purchased the concession for the Algarve’s A22 until 2030. According to reports, the acquisition does not mean tolls will be reinstated. Under the existing concession contract, Igneo is responsible only for the operation, management and maintenance of the motorway until 2030.
For tolls to return, it would require a new political decision and a fresh contractual agreement with the State.
