Years of neglect leave Spain facing a €60 billion road repair backlog

Spain is facing a massive €60 billion backlog in road repair and maintenance costs over the next decade, according to recent assessments. The construction and infrastructure employers' association SEOPAN estimates that the country will need €58.37 billion for road maintenance investments over ten years. This figure covers the wider investment needed to restore and maintain roads to acceptable technical standards, including €43.7 billion to bring maintenance up to required technical standards and a further €14.67 billion to restore networks to an acceptable starting condition.

The Spanish Road Association (AEC) found in its 2025 audit that 52% of the road network has serious or very serious deterioration, with 33,966 kilometers needing urgent reconstruction and another 20,407 kilometers requiring attention within four years. The condition of roads has worsened by around eight percent a year over the past three years, with rising material, energy and labor costs contributing to the increased repair bill.

However, part of the deterioration is also attributed to the inherent condition of the infrastructure itself. Responsibility for Spain's roads is divided between several levels of government, making it challenging to pinpoint which administration is responsible for the condition of a particular road. This division of responsibility between the central government, autonomous communities, provincial councils, and town halls means that addressing the national maintenance problem requires investment and planning across multiple administrations.

SEOPAN has called for changes to traditional public investment and contracting arrangements, advocating for greater use of public-private partnerships, concession arrangements, and road-user charging as ways to generate funding for maintenance without increasing general taxation. The focus is now on finding long-term solutions to prevent years of deferred maintenance from creating an even larger bill for the administrations responsible, while ensuring that the public, who rely on these roads for everyday travel, tourism, and the movement of goods, do not suffer the consequences of poor road maintenance.