Toll Roads in Spain: A Simple Guide to AP and A Motorways (2026)

Autopista (AP) or autovía (A): how to tell them apart

• Road numbers: on the state network, motorways and autovías are numbered with an “A” on a blue background. Toll sections add a “P”, so they read AP (for example AP-7). Madrid’s toll access roads keep the letter R (R-2 to R-5).
• Signs: the start of an autopista and the start of an autovía each have their own blue sign (S-1 “Autopista” and S-1a “Autovía” in the official sign catalogue). Both mean motorway traffic rules apply from that point.
• The legal difference: an autopista is built only for motor vehicles, with no access from roadside properties and no level crossings. An autovía also has separate carriageways for each direction, limited access from roadside properties and no level crossings, but does not meet every autopista requirement. Paying is not part of either definition.

An AP number does not always mean you pay today. Sections that stopped charging tolls since 2018 kept their AP numbers. The useful question is whether the section you will drive is still on the toll list.

Many tolls have ended

Since 2018 the Spanish government has let toll concessions expire instead of renewing them. The ministry says more than 1,000 km of state toll motorways became free this way.

After September 2021 the ministry said no state toll roads were left in Catalonia. The next concession on the ministry’s list to end is the AP-68 Bilbao–Zaragoza, on 10 November 2026. If you drive it around that date, check the ministry’s page first.

Where tolls still apply

The ministry’s list of state toll motorways still charging includes:

• Mediterranean coast: AP-7 Málaga–Estepona and Estepona–Guadiaro (Costa del Sol), AP-7 Alicante–Cartagena, and AP-7 Cartagena–Vera.
• Around Madrid: the radial toll roads R-2, R-3, R-4 and R-5, the M-12, AP-41 Madrid–Toledo and AP-36 Ocaña–La Roda, plus AP-6 Villalba–Adanero and its branches AP-51 (Ávila) and AP-61 (Segovia).
• North and northwest: AP-9 Ferrol–Portuguese border and AP-53 in Galicia, AP-66 Campomanes–León, AP-71 León–Astorga, and AP-68 Bilbao–Zaragoza.
• Andalucía inland: AP-46 Alto de las Pedrizas–Málaga.

Regional governments run other toll roads that are not on this state list: in Catalonia, Navarra, Galicia and the Basque Country (Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia). Watch the signs there too.

The toll roads run by the state company SEITT (the Madrid radials, M-12, AP-36, AP-41 and AP-7 Cartagena–Vera) are free every day between 00:00 and 06:00.

How paying works

• Card or cash: toll plazas have lanes where you pay by card or cash. If you have no tag, use these lanes.
• Ticket roads: on some sections you take a ticket when you enter and pay when you leave. Use the same way of paying at both ends: if you entered through a VIA-T lane, leave through a VIA-T lane too.
• VIA-T tag: VIA-T is the electronic toll system used on all Spanish toll motorways. A small device on the windscreen is read by an antenna as you drive through slowly, and the toll is charged to the linked bank account or card. One beep means it worked and the barrier opens. No beep, or several beeps, means it failed and the barrier stays down, so you must pay another way.
• Lane signs: a telepeaje sign (S-32) marks lanes where you can pay with a tag. A “telepeaje obligatorio” sign (R-418) marks tag-only lanes. Do not enter those without a working tag.

Banks and other companies listed on the VIA-T website issue tags, linked to an account or card. VIA-T also works on Portuguese toll roads and some French motorways; ask the issuer first. In Portugal, the electronic lanes are Via Verde lanes, marked with a V on a green background. Some Spanish toll roads charge less when you pay by tag.

Rental cars

• You pay the tolls. Rental conditions make the driver responsible for tolls during the rental.
• Ask at pickup whether the car has a toll tag and how tolls are billed. Not every company offers one. Avis Spain, for example, says it does not offer electronic toll devices.
• Charges can come later. If a toll or fine reaches the rental company after you return the car, it can charge you then, plus an admin fee on top.
• One tag only. If you bring your own VIA-T, do not carry it in a car that already has a tag. The VIA-T website warns that both can be charged, and that a tag can be read even when you do not mean to use it.

Alicante, Torrevieja and the Costa Blanca

• North of Alicante: the AP-7 towards Valencia and Tarragona has been toll-free since 1 January 2020.
• Alicante bypass: the AP-7 Circunvalación de Alicante is now permanently toll-free.
• South of Alicante: the AP-7 Alicante–Cartagena is still a toll road. It starts at a junction with the free A-7 autovía and has exits for the Torrevieja area, including CV-90 Torrevieja, San Miguel de Salinas–Torrevieja, Los Montesinos, La Zenia, Campoamor and Pilar de la Horadada. Its main toll barriers are at Los Montesinos and La Zenia. The ministry publishes higher high-season rates for June to September and around Easter.
• Further south: the AP-7 Cartagena–Vera (Murcia to Almería) is also tolled, and is free at night from 00:00 to 06:00.

Sources

• Ministry of Transport: state toll roads and concessions that have ended, current state toll motorways, press releases on the end of tolls on the AP-7 Tarragona–Alicante (2020) and the AP-7 and AP-2 in Catalonia and Aragón (2021), the AP-7 Alicante–Cartagena toll table (PDF) for exits, barriers and seasons, and the 2024 toll motorway report (PDF) for regional toll roads.
• SEITT: 2026 toll update (Alicante bypass, night-time free use), AP-7 Cartagena–Vera.
• BOE: Royal Decree 1231/2003 (A and AP road numbers), Royal Decree 465/2025 (sign catalogue: S-1, S-1a, S-32, R-418), Roads Act 37/2015 (autopista and autovía definitions).
• VIA-T: what VIA-T is, how it works, where it works, where to get one.
• Rental companies: Europcar Spain rental conditions (PDF), Avis Spain terms.

Checked 9 October 2026. Toll roads and rules change. Confirm on the official pages before you drive.