It is one year since the Portuguese introduced tolls on motorways and in the area covering the Algarve and the region of Huelva, two-way trade has fallen by 43%. In towns such as Ayamonte in Huelva, dependent upon Portuguese visitors for their daily trade, the result has been disastrous.
Two years ago, restaurants in the area would have been full during a ‘puente’, but this year they were only half full as, presumably, people resent having to pay to use the roads. On the Portuguese side, the situation has not been helped by an increase in VAT to 23%.