Spanish toll road declared bankrupt
15 May 2012
The first Spanish highway concession has filed for bankruptcy, with losses of over €100m over its lifetime.
The AP-41 toll road between Madrid and Toledo, which is managed by companies including Grupo Isolux Corsan, Comsa, Azvi and Banco Espiritu Santo, has declared itself bankrupt at the Albacete court, according to reports. It has over €500m of debt, with traffic levels dipping as low as 10% of the base level estimates and a competing free road damaging toll revenue further.
The route was originally intended to be extended to Cordoba, but this plan was rejected on environmental grounds.
In March, Transport Minister Ana Pastor announced a plan to support a dozen highways with total liabilities of €3bn. Solutions include a combination of extending contract durations on the asset, setting-up support mergers and granting emergency loans.
