The Minister of Mobility and Digital Transformation announced today, during an event in Ávila, the submission of a preliminary requirement to the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility to reconsider the decision to connect Ávila to the A-6 highway towards Madrid. As mentioned, the Government has tendered a study for the improvement of the N-403, which implies giving up on converting this road into another high-capacity one.
July 4, 2025
Castilla y León | Department of Mobility and Digital Transformation
The Junta of Castilla y León has submitted a preliminary requirement to the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility to not abandon the A-40 Highway project and fulfill its commitment to connect Ávila to the A-6.
«The Government’s decision to close the file without approving any alternative means, once again, leaving Ávila behind,» lamented the Minister of Mobility and Digital Transformation, José Luis Sanz Merino. The Ministry has also this week commissioned a feasibility study on the improvement of the N-403, which implies renouncing the conversion of this road into a highway.
The regional government denounces that this decision «hinders a key infrastructure for the development of the province, ignoring a territory that already suffers from a serious deficit in terms of transportation and infrastructure,» as pointed out by Sanz Merino.
In parallel, the Minister has urged the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility to evaluate any of the options outlined in the study. In this regard, the Junta requests a two-year extension on the deadlines of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to prevent it from expiring and losing the progress made so far.
As Sanz Merino recalled, the State Infrastructure Plan approved in 2012 (PITVI 2012-2024) identified the A-40 as a strategic corridor. Thus, a dual-capacity road would enhance the connection of Ávila with the rest of Castilla y León and the northern Spain.
The Minister of Mobility and Digital Transformation argued that Ávila needs an effort in terms of infrastructure and railway services with Madrid, or the expansion of the Ávila-Madrid corridor to Arévalo. He also lamented that the new transport map «would leave 86 towns in the province without a bus stop.»
Finally, Sanz Merino emphasized that this demand has been supported in the Courts of Castilla y León, in the Congress, in the Senate, and by institutional representatives of the province. «The Junta of Castilla y León will not look the other way. It will continue to demand what is fair for Ávila: a highway that connects, that structures the territory, that generates opportunities, and that leaves no one behind,» he concluded.