A hot topic of conversation among expats in Portugal’s Algarve is the recent launch of toll charges on the Algarve’s only motorway.

The A22, also known as the Via de Infante, stretches from Vila Real de Santo Antonio, on the Spanish border, as far west as Lagos. The road was built with the help of EU funding and completed in 2003, and moved a lot of traffic away from the busy and notorious N125, previously the only road stretching the width of the region.

The introduction of tolls on this road has been hugely controversial, much protested and delayed several times. Part of the objection is that the toll system has no tollbooths and instead uses a network of computerised gantries that work in tandem with electronic transponders.

Residents can purchase a transponder at a cost of around €28, which links to their bank account. The gantries note when cars drive through and debit their accounts accordingly.

While this can work for residents, the Portuguese authorities have been slow to explain exactly how the system should work for foreign vehicles and hire cars. Press reports suggest that thousands of fines have already been issued for hire cars that do not yet have transponders installed, and hire car companies are now keen to keep their customers’ credit card slips when they leave the country, in case of any charges or fines. Some hire companies have even suggested that hirers refrain from using the motorway until the system is more organised.

Cars driving into the Algarve via the Spanish border currently have the option of pre-paying for travel on the motorway, or leaving the A22 at the first exit and taking the slower, old road through the region. An option of visiting a post office to pay tolls after travelling on the road also exists, but Web forum conversations have highlighted queues, and delays in trips being registered on the computer system.

For non-residents, the system is currently something of a muddle. Anyone visiting the Algarve for a holiday or viewing trip is advised to contact their hire car company in advance to determine their arrangements for use of the toll road. Residents and holiday homeowners, meanwhile, should seriously consider getting a transponder to avoid fines and queues at the post office. Hopefully, by the summer, the teething problems will be eliminated, or there is a serious danger of the N125 road turning into a large, hot car park.

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