The precarious viability of certain toll highway concessions in Spain. Structural lessons for the model of public-private collaboration and a proposal of conjunctural solution

Abstract

The failure of the economic viability of the radial highways of Madrid and some of the other toll road concessions awarded since 1998 has created a serious challenge for the administration of the State, who must find a solution in the context of a severe restriction of the public deficit and simultaneously preserve the future confidence of investors in this type of projects in Spain and ensure the continuity of public service provision offered by underlying infrastructure. An analysis of the real causes that led to the bankruptcy of these concessions can clearly draw some of the structural weaknesses of the concession system in Spain. On these two issues, concrete solutions and structural reform, this article makes some specific proposals.