Spanish Government mulls extending fuel subsidy until end of 2023

Spanish Government mulls extending fuel subsidy until end of 2023

trans.info — 2023-05-29

Land transportation

The important promise was made at the General and Electoral Assembly of the Spanish Confederation of Road Transport Organisations (CONETRANS) on 26 May in Madrid, where the Secretary General for Transport and Mobility, María José Rallo responded to the sector’s demands.

According to Diaro de Transporte’s report on the event, Rallo stressed that the ministry was willing to study the possibility of extending the fuel subsidy until the end of 2023.

The extension would also be useful for foreign hauliers operating lorries in Spain, as the Spanish government has just announced that it will grant fuel subsidies to lorries belonging to foreign hauliers operating in Spain, and that the aid can even be applied retroactively.

The fuel subsidies in question were introduced for Spanish hauliers in 2023 January as a result of negotiations between the national hauliers’ associations and the Ministry of Transport. The government provides up to 20 cents per litre of fuel for road transport vehicles in the first half of 2023.

This subsidy was extended to foreign hauliers last week.

At the congress, Rallo announced a plan called “Reconduce” to make the HGV driving profession more attractive, the report adds. Rallo said the ministry would carry out a study in order to have a “real and exhaustive knowledge” of the sector’s problems and propose measures to solve them.

With regard to the 44-tonne limit, the Transport Secretary promised to seek measures to alleviate the additional costs associated with this change.

Finally, she urged hauliers to use new tools such as eCMR and to embrace digitalisation. “Those who don’t get on this train will find it very difficult to survive,” said Rallo, as quoted by Diaro de Transporte.