The Spanish motorway (highway) network is the third largest in the world, by length. , there are of High Capacity Roads () in the country. There are two main types of such roads, autopistas and autovías, which differed in the strictness of the standards they are held to.
History
Between 1990 and 2012 Spain had one of the highest rates of motorway growth in Europe.
The first motorways named autopista were financed using sovereign debt.
At the end of the 1980s, and before Olympic Games in 1992 in Barcelona, the autonomous Catalan government was interested in increasing the speed limit on new motorways. Between 1987 and 1990, the operations at four new motorways were transferred to private companies, three by the Catalan region and one by the national government.
Building of new sections of autovia was increased before the 1992 Olympic Games and the Sevilla World Fair.
The 1984-1992 National Plan built around 3500 kilometers of new autovia, to reach a network length of 6000 kilometres by 1992, at a cost of 184 million pesetas (around 1 million euros). At the same time, the new autovia standard was closer to the autopista standard, as the old autovia standard was understood as not providing enough safety. This generated increasing project costs.
Since traffic density is generally lower in Spain than France, it was required that some motorways were to be untolled. Despite a lower traffic density, Spanish motorways remain profitable, because tolls are twice higher in Spain than in France.
Between 2005 and 2014, Spain was the EU country which best performed for decreasing fatalities on motorways, with a decrease score of 66%.
Differences between autopista and autovía
The distinction between two kinds of high capacity roads is mainly a historical one, seldom with practical consequences for most but the oldest motorways. Both kinds are divided highways with full access control and at least two lanes per direction. General speed limits for both are mandated by the Spanish Traffic Law as , though there are groups that ask for the latter to be raised to . Specific limits may be imposed based on road, meteorologic or traffic conditions.
Autopistas are specifically reserved for automobile travel, so all vehicles not able to sustain at least are banned from them. Thus, they may not be an upgrade to an older road, since the Spanish legislation requires an alternative route to be provided for such vehicles. Many, but not all, autopistas are toll roads, which also mandates an alternative toll-free route (though not necessarily a freeway) under the Spanish laws. An example is the AP-2 toll autopista, which links Zaragoza with Barcelona through the Monegros desert. In this case, the alternative is the N-II, the national road that preceded the A-2 autovía.