Toll roads are a sensitive issue for the Government not only because of the debate on financing to maintain the roads, but also because of the litigation inherited from previous administrations, the resolution of which may force unexpected efforts to be addressed. Over the next year, the State is risking close to 5,000 million euros in procedures of different nature in the Supreme Court, the culmination of which will at least serve to resolve conflicts that date back in some cases to the financial crisis of 2008.
The main dispute is the one between Abertis and the Administration over the AP-7 highway in the section between Salou and La Jonquera, on which a ruling is expected in the first quarter of next year. The concession concluded in August 2021 and the company waited six months, until February 2022, to file a lawsuit for the money that in its opinion the State owes it for the investments made.
The company, owned by ACS and the Italian Mundys, the former Atlantia, claims compensation of more than 4,000 million euros in accordance with the remuneration formula established in 2006, at the time when Magdalena Álvarez was Minister of Development. The solution found at that time was considered creative by the parties, although years later it was invalidated.
The underlying conflict is in the change of the AP-7 contract in 2006, when Abertis was asked to invest 500 million euros, eliminate tolls on the outskirts of Barcelona and admit the construction of high-capacity parallel roads. among other things. To compensate for this, a system linked to traffic was devised, in which the State had to assume a greater amount if the flow of vehicles was below forecasts, as it ended up happening.
Abertis has already collected close to 1,000 million euros from the State, so the hole that the State faces is around 3,000 million. It only has a minor provision provisioned and a resolution in its favor would generate a strong cash inflow.
This litigation is the main one pending resolution, but companies and investment funds are also attentive to another Supreme Court ruling on the bankrupt radio stations after the 2008 crisis, especially after the court ruled against the calculations. of the Government to compensate the current owners.
The Executive initially estimated compensation to the operators of these radio stations at 1,021 million euros, most of them located in Madrid. In reality, the litigation is with the five funds that bought the debt of eight of the nine bankrupt highways, which are King Street, Attestor, SVP, Deutsche Bank and Taconic Capital. They have the right to collect for the patrimonial responsibility of the Administration (RPA) that the State assumed in those projects, and the struggle now consists of determining what amount they are entitled to.
The litigants calculate that, in late payment interest alone, the compensation for this compensation has already increased by more than 600 million euros in recent years, which would be added to 1,021 million. Sources of the funds did not want to make statements on the matter.
This is the last fringe of a traumatic process that was practically closed in 2018, when the government approved the liquidation file for the highways and the transfer of their management to the state company Seittsa, which is the one that now operates the roads with lower tolls. Once this mystery is resolved, the final bill for the public coffers of the bankruptcy of Madrid's highways will be known.
This year, the courts have already been taking steps to define the jurisprudence on these highways. The Supreme Court forced the State to recalculate the liquidation of the A-43 toll highway, the Guadiana highway, which is part, along with the Madrid highways, of the rescued roads. It had also established compensation for the financial responsibility of the Administration.
The Atlantic highway, the AP-9, owned by Itínere, is waiting for the courts to decide on the compensation it claims for pending compensation, valued at hundreds of millions of euros.
One of the major judicial decisions of 2023 on highways has been the Supreme Court's dismissal of the compensation claimed by operators for the drop in traffic that occurred during the pandemic. His decision responds to a procedure proposed by Itínere and Globalvia related to Galician highways.
At the state level, there are still thirteen toll highways operating after rollbacks in recent years. As part of the agreements with Brussels to receive European funds, the Government committed to creating a toll system to finance roads, later replaced by measures to encourage railways.
