Abertis is a huge Spanish company that manages infrastructures such as highways, parking, telecommunications or construction and management of airports. It is the first investment of Abertis in Navarra in the last ten years.

The sale shows that the Highway of the Way is desirable for investors, a secure value at the moment. The highway was built for 2006 by the UTE led by Caja Navarra. Infrastructure Panther (Deuthche Bank) was sold in 2009 to the German Investment Fund, which in 2017 was commented on to UBS for around EUR 450 million.

Big business

As you can see, everyone wins with a 70-kilometer freeway linking Navarre and Logroño, all but the Navarros. The Government of Navarre pays this infrastructure by means of dull tolls, and according to the data offered to the House of Auditors of Navarre, this form of payment is very expensive for the public purse of Navarre.

The motorway contract is 2002 and in exchange for construction and maintenance, the Government of Navarre established a 30-year payment period with construction companies. According to this, the foral government pays annually a toll: the highway construction cost EUR 389 million and the Government of Navarra agreed a 30-year payment period. By 2021, however, the government had already paid EUR 604 million, according to the House of Auditors. This year it will pay EUR 56 million and next year 64 million. Between 2025 and 2030 there will be another EUR 300 million.

The UPN launched this payment system and, in the end, the cost of the infrastructure almost triples from the one originally planned.