A motion demanding “the end of tolls on the Algarve’s A22 motorway” was approved by Lagos’ municipal assembly on Monday (November 30) and widely interpreted as an initiative designed as a bid to take advantage of the new left-wing government.
Put forward by the town’s CDU party – a coalition of communists and the green party, the motion received 23 votes, one abstention and only one veto.
It read that Lagos “shows its support and solidarity to the anti-toll fight of the Algarvean people and institutions”.
“The damage caused by the tolls is much larger than the cost of a motorway without tolls,” said the CDU, adding that the A22 should be a “public service financed by the State” and that “it shouldn’t be replaced by the overloaded EN125, even if the road is improved”.
According to data cited by the CDU, there have been 7,943 accidents on the EN125 – widely-dubbed the Algarve’s “road of death” – this year, with 32 people killed. That is 27 more than last year.
