Highways in Spain


The Spanish motorway 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 historically differed in the strictness of the standards they are held up 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.
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%.
Increase of the Spanish motorway network-
-
The length of motorways and other roads is expressed in kilometers. It is reported as of 31 December..-
Sources:
  • Eurostat
  • Rac foundation
Sources:
  • Eurostat
  • Rac foundation

    • 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 alternate route to be provided for such vehicles. Many, but not all, autopistas are toll roads, which also mandates an alternate toll-free route 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.
    On the other hand, autovías are usually upgrades from older roads, and always untolled. In general, slow vehicles like bicycles and agricultural machinery are allowed under certain restrictions so as to not disrupt the traffic excessively or cause any danger. Furthermore, an autovía will most likely follow the original road very closely, only deviating from it to bypass the towns. Thus, the upgraded road usually serves as the base for one of the two directions of the new autovía, which means the turns can be steeper than in autopistas. All in all, an autovía:
    However, most of the situations listed here only apply to the oldest autovías, and mainly to the radial A-1 through A-6 plus the A-42 near their endpoints, which were the first to be twinned in the 60s into dual carriageways and then were upgraded to limited-access freeways in the 70s-80s, keeping most of their old route unchanged except where the old national road ventured into towns. In those cases, the freeway would make a semi-loop called a variante around the town, leaving the old national road as the access between the freeway and the town.
    New autovías usually have perfectly normal acceleration and deceleration lanes, very safe turns and transitable shoulders. Thus, the practical difference between a "new" autovía and a generic autopista is mainly the frequency of exits, which is usually higher in an autovía - upgraded from an old road with many crosses - than in a new, purpose-designed autopista with fewer preconditions imposed on it.

    Safety

    It is considered that the construction of motorways has helped to increase safety in Spanish roads, while generating a traffic increase.
    Fatalities on motorways have decreased from 776 in 2006 to 277 in 2015.
    Spain is one of the countries of the EU with most of road fatalities occurring on motorways rather than other roads: 16% in 2015. But the same year, taking into account the fact that Spain counts a longer distance of road as motorways, Spain is one of the countries with the less motorway fatality rates per 1.000 km of motorways, after Finland, Denmark, Croatia, and Hungary: 18,1 fatalities par 1000 kilometers of motorways.

    Effective speed

    Source: https://www.mitma.gob.es/recursos_mfom/comodin/recursos/vel_autovia_mes.pdf

    State-managed motorways

    Most of the high capacity roads in Spain are under the authority of the General Roads Directorate of the Ministry of Public Works, a department of the central Government of Spain, with the exceptions of Navarre and the Basque Country, the only autonomous communities which have been transferred full powers over all roads in their territories. Usually, the DGC manages all road maintenance, but in the case of the tolled autopistas, the management is commonly delegated to the concessionaire company.
    Traditionally, purpose-built autopistas or autovías were assigned names starting with A plus one or two numbers describing their general orientation, while upgraded autovías kept their original names. Thus, the freeway that is currently known as A-5 was still reported as N-V in road signs for years after the upgrade was completed, making it difficult for drivers to know in advance which roads had become autovías. However, in 2003 all Spanish motorways were uniformly renamed with the following criteria:
    All such names are posted in white letters on blue background, like: A-49 or AP-4 . Note that none of these naming and coloring requisites affect roads under the authority of the Autonomous Communities. For example, the A-8 road in the Basque Country is a tolled autopista, as are the C-16, C-32 and C-33 in Catalonia. Other communities such as Madrid do follow the convention, and have names as MP-203 for a tolled road and M-501 for a free autovía. Furthermore, roads under the authority of the Andalusian government also start with A, but they have longer numeric codes and different coloring.

    Interurban motorways

    The roads listed below form the backbone of the Spanish high capacity network, connecting all provincial capitals and other major towns and destinations. Until recently, the network suffered from a high radiality, which collapsed the several Madrid beltways and the roads into the city and region. Since the 2000s, an effort to improve the situation was made based on two actions:
    SignalDenominationItinerary
    Autovía del NorteMadrid — Alcobendas/San Sebastián de los Reyes — M-50 — El Molar — Aranda de Duero — Burgos West — AP-1 — Burgos Northeast — N-I/AP-1
    Autopista Radial 1Madrid — † — M-50 — † — El Molar
    Autopista del NorteBurgos — N-I/A-1 — Briviesca — Pancorbo — Miranda de Ebro — Armiñón
    Autovía del NordesteMadrid — Coslada/San Fernando de Henares — Torrejón de Ardoz — Alcalá de Henares — Guadalajara — Medinaceli — Zaragoza — AP-2

    Fraga — AP-2 — Lleida — Cervera — Martorell — B-23 — L'Hospitalet de Llobregat

    Tordera — * — Caldes de Malavella — Fornells de la Selva — † — Girona — † — Figueres — † — France
    Autopista Radial 2Madrid —M-50—Guadalajara A-2
    Autopista del NordesteZaragoza—Lleida—El Vendrell
    Autovía del EsteMadrid —Atalaya del Cañavate—Valencia
    Autopista Radial 3Madrid —Arganda del Rey —*—Tarancón
    Autovía del SurMadrid —Córdoba—Seville, Jerez de la Frontera—A-48
    Autopista Radial 4Madrid —Aranjuez—Ocaña
    Autopista del SurSeville—Cádiz
    Autovía del SuroesteMadrid —Talavera de la Reina—Navalmoral de la Mata—Trujillo—Mérida—Badajoz—Portugal
    Autopista Radial 5Madrid —Navalcarnero
    Autovía del NoroesteMadrid—Villalba, Adanero—Tordesillas—Benavente—Lugo—A Coruña
    Autopista del NoroesteVillalba—Adanero
    Autovía del MediterráneoPuçol—Valencia—Silla, Crevillent—Murcia—Almería—Motril—Málaga—Algeciras
    Autopista del MediterráneoFrance—La Jonquera—Girona—Barcelona—Tarragona—Puçol, Silla—Alicante, Crevillent—Cartagena—Vera, Málaga—Guadiaro
    Autovía del CantábricoBilbao—Castro Urdiales—Laredo—Torrelavega—Llanes—Villaviciosa—Gijón—Avilés—Luarca—Navia—Ribadeo—Mondoñedo—Vilalba—Baamonde
    Autopista del AtlánticoFerrol—A Coruña—Santiago—Pontevedra—Vigo—Tui
    Autovía del DueroSoria–*–Aranda de Duero—*—Valladolid–Tordesillas—Toro—Zamora—*—Portugal
    Autovía del Camino de SantiagoPamplona—Logroño—*—Burgos
    Autovía A-13Acceso Sureste-Nordeste de Logroño—*—Soria
    Autovía A-14Lleida—*—Vielha—*—France
    Autovía de NavarraMedinaceli—Soria—*—Tudela—Tafalla-Pamplona—Irurtzun—Villabona-Andoain-Hernani-Donostia/San Sebastián
    Autovía del PirineoPamplona—*—Jaca
    Autovía Huesca-LleidaLleida—Monzón—Barbastro—*—Huesca
    Autovía MudéjarSagunto—Teruel—Zaragoza—Huesca—*—Somport—*—France
    Autovía Daroca-BurgosDaroca—*—Calatayud—*—Soria—*—Burgos
    Autovía A-25Alcolea—Monreal
    Autovía del Eje PirenaicoBesalú—Olot
    Autovía Tarragona-LleidaTarragona—*—Montblanc
    Autovía de la AlcarriaGuadalajara—Tarancón
    Autovía de MurciaAlbacete —Murcia—Cartagena
    Autovía de AlicanteAtalaya del Cañavate —La Roda—Albacete—Almansa—Alicante
    Autovía Linares-AlbaceteBailén—*—Linares—*—Albacete
    Autovía Cieza-Font de la FigueraCieza—Jumilla—*—Yecla—*—Font de la Figuera
    Autovía A-34L'Hospitalet de l'Infant—*—Vila-Seca
    Autovía Almansa-XàtivaAlmansa —Xàtiva
    Autopista Ocaña-La RodaOcaña —Quintanar de la Orden—La Roda
    Autopista Alicante-MurciaAlicante—Murcia
    Autovía de Castilla-La ManchaÁvila—*—Maqueda—Toledo—*—Ocaña—Tarancón—Cuenca—*—Teruel
    Autopista AP-41Madrid —Toledo, Almadén—*—Espiel
    Autovía de ToledoMadrid—Toledo
    Autovía Extremadura-Comunidad ValencianaMérida—*—Ciudad Real—Manzanares—Villarrobledo—Atalaya del Cañavate
    Autovía de Sierra NevadaBailén —Jaén—Granada—Motril
    Autovía de MálagaCórdoba —Antequera—Málaga
    Autopista AP-46Puerto de las Pedrizas —Málaga
    Autovía A-48Cádiz—Algeciras
    Autovía del Quinto CentenarioSeville—Huelva—Ayamonte—Portugal
    Autovía de la CulturaÁvila–Salamanca
    Conexión ÁvilaVillacastín –Ávila
    Autovía de las Rías BajasBenavente–Ourense–O Porriño
    Autopista Central GallegaOurense–Santiago
    Autovía A-54Lugo–*–Santiago
    Autovía del AtlánticoVigo–O Porriño–Tui–Portugal
    Autovía A-56Guntín de Pallares–*–Ourense
    Autovía A-57A Cañiza–*–Pontevedra
    Autovía Trujillo - CáceresTrujillo –Cáceres
    Autovía A-59—
    Autovía A-60Valladolid–*–León
    Conexión SegoviaSan Rafael –Segovia
    Autovía de CastillaBurgos–Valladolid–Salamanca–Fuentes de Oñoro–Portugal
    Autovía A-63Oviedo–La Espina
    Autovía A-64Villaviciosa–Oviedo
    Autovía A-65Benavente–*–Palencia
    Autovía Ruta de la PlataNorthern span: Gijón — AS-II — Oviedo — AP-66/N-630

    Southern span: La Robla — † — León — Benavente — Zamora — Salamanca — Plasencia — Cáceres — Mérida — Seville
    Autopista Ruta de la PlataCampomanes — León
    Autovía Cantabria-MesetaSantander–Torrelavega–Reinosa—Aguilar de Campóo—Palencia–Venta de Baños
    Autopista Vasco-aragonesaBilbao–Miranda de Ebro-Logroño–Tudela-Zaragoza
    Autopista Dos MaresCantabria–*–Pancorbo–*–Haro
    Autopista León - AstorgaLeón –Astorga
    Autovía A-72Monforte de Lemos–*–Chantada
    Autovía A-73Burgos–*–Aguilar de Campoo
    Autovía A-74Almadén–*–Autovía A-43
    Autovía Verín - Frontera PortuguesaVerín –Portugal
    Autovía A-76Ponferrada–*–Ourense
    Autovía A-78Crevillent–Elche
    Autovía A-79Alicante–Elche
    Autovía del SellaRibadesella–*–Cangas de Onís
    Autovía A-91Puerto Lumbreras–Vélez Rubio

    Beltways, city accesses and urban highways

    Most beltways, full or partial, have originated from the upgrading of one or several roads reaching the town to the autovía level, as the several variantes looping around the town were joined in a single beltway that received a new naming such as TO-20 or Z-40. The list below only contains roads that are recognized as autovías or autopistas for at least part of its length, thus disqualifying urban arteries with at-grade intersections or unrestricted direct access to the main lanes, which are better represented by the dual carriageway concept.
    RegionSignalDenominationItinerary
    A CoruñaAutovía AC-10AC-11—AC-12
    A CoruñaAutovía AC-11Avda. Alfonso Molina
    A CoruñaAutovía AC-12San Pedro de Nos —A Coruña docks
    A CoruñaSouthern access from A-6A-6—A Coruña
    AlicanteCircunvalacion de AlicanteCampello —Elche
    AlicanteNorth east route to AlicanteAlicante —A-7
    AlmeríaEastern access to AlmeríaEl Toyo —Airport—Almería
    AlmeríaAlmería docks accessA-7—Almería docks
    ÁvilaCircunvalación de ÁvilaAP-51—N-110
    AvilésEastern access to AvilésA-8—Avilés
    BarcelonaRonda Litoral—
    BarcelonaRonda de Dalt—
    BarcelonaSecond access to Barcelona Airport*
    BarcelonaAccess to Barcelona AirportC-32—C-31—Barcelona Airport
    BarcelonaAutovía B-23Molins de Rei —B-20—Avda. Diagonal
    BarcelonaAutovía B-24Vallirana —Molins de Rei
    BarcelonaCalzadas laterales AP-7Molins de Rei —C-58
    BarcelonaAutovía Orbital de BarcelonaAbrera —La Roca del Vallés
    BurgosAutovía BU-11A-1,BU-30—Burgos
    BurgosCircunvalación de BurgosA-1 Madrid—A-62—A-231—*—N-623—A-1 Vitoria—AP-1
    CádizCircunvalación de Jerez de la FronteraCádiz Airport —A-480—N-IVa—*—A-381
    CádizNorthern access to El Puerto de Santa MaríaA-4—El Puerto de Santa María
    CádizSouthern access to El Puerto de Santa MaríaAP-4—El Puerto de Santa María
    CádizAutovía CA-33Cádiz—San Fernando
    CádizAutovía CA-34San Roque —La Línea de la Concepción—Gibraltar
    CádizAutovía CA-35Puerto Real —Cádiz
    CartagenaWestern access to CartagenaAP-7 —Cartagena
    CartagenaEastern access to CartagenaA-30—AP-7
    CartagenaAccess to Cartagena docksA-30—Cartagena docks
    CartagenaAccess to EscombrerasA-30—Escombreras Valley industrial area
    Castellón de la PlanaAccess to Castellón docksN-340—Castellón docks
    CórdobaRonda NorteN-432—A-4
    CuencaAutovía CU-11A-40—Cuenca
    ElcheCircunvalación de ElcheA-7—CV-85
    GijónAutopista GJ-81A-8—Calle de Sanz Crespo
    GranadaWestern access to Motril portA-7—Motril port
    GranadaEastern access to Motril portA-7—Motril port
    GranadaCircunvalación de GranadaA-44—A-92—*—N-432—*—GR-43—*—A-92G—*—A-44
    GranadaNorth-western access to GranadaPinos Puente —*—Granada
    HuelvaAutovía H-30N-441—H-31—Huelva docks
    HuelvaAutovía H-31A-49—Huelva
    JaénNorthern access to JaénA-316—Jaén
    LeónAutovía LE-12LE-30—LE-20
    LeónCircunvalación de LeónA-66—N-630—LE-12
    LleidaEastern access to LleidaA-2—Lleida
    LleidaSouthern access to LleidaAP-2—Lleida
    LogroñoCircunvalación de LogroñoAP-68—N-232
    LugoAutovía LU-11Southwest access A-6—Lugo
    LugoAutovía LU-12A-54—Vilamoure
    LugoAutovía LU-021East Ring of Lugo N-640—LU-11
    MadridWestern access to Barajas AirportM-30—M-40—M-12—M-14
    MadridEje AeropuertoM-40—M-11—Airport terminal 4—A-1
    MadridAutovía M-13M-14—M-12
    MadridSouthern access to Barajas AirportM-40—A-2—Airport terminals 1, 2, 3—M-13
    MadridAutovía M-21M-40—M-14—M-22—M-216—M-50
    MadridEnlace O'Donnell—R-3Madrid —M-30—R-3—M-40
    MadridCalle 30A-1/M-11—A-2—M-23—A-3—A-4—A-42—A-5—M-500—A-6—M-40—M-607—A-1/M-11
    MadridAutovía M-31M-40—M-45—M-50
    MadridAutopista de Circunvalación M-40A-1—R-2—M-11—M-12—A-2/M-21/M-14—M-201—M-23/R-3—A-3—M-31—A-4—A-42—R-5—M-45—A-5—M-501—M-503—A-6—M-30—M-607—A-1
    MadridAutopista de Circunvalación M-50A-1—R-2—M-111—A-2—M-21—M-206—M-45—R-3—A-3—M-31—M-301—A-4—R-4—A-42—M-409—M-407—R-5—M-506—A-5—M-501—M-503—M-505—A-6—*—M-607—*—A-1
    MálagaAutovía de TorremolinosTorremolinos — Málaga Airport — Málaga
    MálagaEastern access to MálagaRincón de la Victoria — N-340 — MA-113 — Málaga
    MálagaHiperronda de MálagaTorremolinos — * — A-404 — * — A-357 — * — AP-46 — * — Málaga
    MurciaCircunvalación de MurciaMurcia — N-340a — A-7 — C-415
    MurciaSantomera-San JavierSan Javier AP-7 — RM-301 — Santomera RM-301 — A-30
    OviedoEastern access to OviedoA-66 — Oviedo
    OviedoWestern access to OviedoA-66 — Oviedo
    OviedoAutovía A-66aA-66 — Oviedo
    PalenciaSouthern access to PalenciaA-67 — Palencia
    PontevedraAutovía PO-10PO-11 — AP-9 — N-550
    PontevedraAccess to MarínPO-10 — Marín
    PuertollanoNorthern access to PuertollanoA-41 — Puertollano
    SalamancaNorthern access to SalamancaA-62/N-630 - N-620
    SalamancaSouthern Ring of SalamancaA-50 — A-66
    SantanderEastern access to SantanderA-8 — S-30 — CA-141 — N-635 — Santander Airport — A-67 — Santander
    SantanderWestern access to SantanderA-67 — S-30 — Santander
    SantanderSantander Bay RondaS-20 — A-67 — * — N-623 — * — S-10
    Santiago de CompostelaSouthern access to SantiagoAP-53/AP-9 — SC-20
    Santiago de CompostelaAutovía SC-20N-550 — A-54 — AP-9 — SC-11
    Santiago de CompostelaAccess to Santiago AirportA-54 — Santiago de Compostela Airport
    SevilleRonda de circunvalación SE-30A-4 — A-92 — A-396 — N-IV — A-4 — A-8058 — A-49 — SE-20
    SevilleRonda de circunvalación metropolitana*
    SoriaAutovía SO-20A-15 — N-122 — N-234
    TarragonaAutovía Tarragona-ReusTarragona — A-7 — AP-7 — Reus Airport — C-14/T-315 — Reus — N-420a
    ToledoCircunvalación de ToledoN-403a — TO-21 — A-42 — AP-41/TO-22
    ToledoWestern access to ToledoA-40 — TO-20
    ToledoEastern access to ToledoTO-20 — AP-41
    ValenciaAccess to Valencia AirportA-3 — Valencia Airport
    ValenciaNorth-Eastern access to ValenciaA-7/V-23 — CV-32 — Valencia
    ValenciaAccess to SaguntoA-7/V-21 — A-23 — Sagunto
    ValenciaAutovía V-30CV-500 — V-31 — CV-36 — A-3 — CV-30 — V-11 — A-7
    ValenciaSouthern access to ValenciaA-7 — V-30
    ValladolidEastern access to ValladolidA-11 — VA-30 — Valladolid
    ValladolidSouthern access to ValladolidN-601 — VA-30 — VA-20 — Valladolid
    ValladolidRonda de Valladolid—
    ValladolidAutovía VA-30*
    VigoAccess to Vigo from AP-9AP-9 — Vigo
    VigoPrimer cinturónCastrelos — Bouzas terminal
    VigoAutovía VG-20VG-10 Navia - AG-57 - AP-9 Rebullon
    ZamoraEastern access to ZamoraA-11 — Zamora
    ZaragozaWestern access to ZaragozaN-403a — TO-21 — A-42 — AP-41/TO-22
    ZaragozaCuarto cinturón de ZaragozaA-2 — AP-68 — A-23 /A-2 — A-68 — A-23 — A-2
    ZaragozaQuinto cinturón de ZaragozaA-2 — A-68 — *

    *: under construction

    Regional-managed motorways

    The formation of the several Autonomous Communities in the early 1980s led to the transfer of many roads to the new regional authorities. Since then, several of those roads have been upgraded to motorway level in order to ensure the internal vertebration of the region, or to provide alternative high-capacity routes to those managed by the national government when those were inadequate or saturated. All of the old comarcal roads comprising the secondary network were transferred to the Autonomous Communities, splitting them up as necessary; while the national roads that formed the primary network were mostly kept by the State.
    The level of control each community has over its road network varies: the Basque Country and Navarre have received the titularity of nearly all roads in their territories, while in other communities the regional network coexists with and complements the national one. Whatever the extension of the road network under its control, all communities have full powers over naming and identification of their roads, provided no name conflicts with a national road or a regional road of a neighbouring community.

    Andalusia

    The regional highway network of Andalusia is very extensive, as the territory itself spans nearly a fifth of Spain. There are no special codes for identifying highways: upgraded roads usually keep their name and sign color. However, confusion sometimes arises due to the fact that most regional roads start with the letter A, which is also used by the national government for highways.
    SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
    InterurbanAutovía A-92Seville — Granada — Almería
    City accessAutovía A-92GSanta Fe — Granada
    InterurbanAutovía A-92MSalinas industrial development — Pedrizas pass
    InterurbanAutovía A-92NGuadix — Vélez-Rubio
    InterurbanAutovía A-306El Carpio — * — Torredonjimeno
    InterurbanAutovía A-308Iznalloz — * — Darro
    InterurbanAutovía del OlivarÚbeda — Baena — * — Jaén — Martos — * — Lucena — Estepa
    InterurbanAutovía A-318
    InterurbanAutovía del AlmanzoraPurchena — * — Fines — Albox — El Cucador — * — A-7
    InterurbanAutovía del GuadalhorceZalea — * — Casapalma — MA-40 — Málaga
    InterurbanAutovía A-376Seville — Alcalá de Guadaira/Dos Hermanas — Utrera
    InterurbanAutovía A-381Jerez de la Frontera — Los Barrios
    InterurbanAutovía A-382Jerez de la Frontera — Arcos de la Frontera
    City accessAutovía del HiguerónA-7 — La Línea de la Concepción
    City accessRonda Sur de GranadaA-44 — Granada
    InterurbanAutovía A-480Sanlúcar de Barrameda — Jerez de la Frontera
    InterurbanAutovía A-483Bollullos Par del Condado — Almonte
    InterurbanAutovía A-497Huelva — Punta Umbría
    UrbanVariante de MairenaSan Juan de Aznalfarache — Mairena
    UrbanAutovía A-8058Seville — San Juan de Aznalfarache

    *: planned/in construction

    Aragon

    The community of Aragon has only very recently started building its own highway network. The first span was opened to traffic just in 2008, and there are at least three more highways in study. Due to the limited financial capabilities of the Aragon regional government, many of them might be built as toll roads.
    SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
    Partial beltwayQuinto cinturón de ZaragozaN-II/AP-2 — A-68
    InterurbanAutopista ARA-AP2Cariñena — † — A-2 — † — ARA-AP4 — † — Mallén
    InterurbanAutovía ARA-A3Gallur — † — Ejea de los Caballeros
    InterurbanAutopista ARA-AP4Tarazona — † — ARA-AP2
    InterurbanStill unnamedHuesca — † — Huesca-Pirineos Airport — † — Sariñena — † — Bujaraloz
    InterurbanStill unnamedBarbastro — † — Ontiñena — † — Caspe

    *: in construction — †: planned

    Asturias

    The highway network in the mountainous Principality of Asturias is severely limited by the complexity of its relief, with a dense network of river valleys in between ranges such as the Picos de Europa.
    Vertebral Asturian motorways have identifiers in the style of national ones, that is, white text on blue background, while roads in process of upgrading keep their old nomenclature until the full route is completed. Such is the case, for example, with the AS-III, which is an upgrade of the AS-17. The prefix is always AS, and Roman numerals are used.
    SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
    InterurbanAutovía mineraMieres — A-64 — Gijón
    InterurbanAutovía industrialOviedo — AS-III — Gijón
    InterurbanAutovía del AceroAvilés — * — Llanera — AS-II — A-66
    City accessAutovía AS-117AS-I — Langreo

    *: planned/in construction

    Balearic Islands

    All of the roads in the Balearic Islands were transferred to the regional government when the Autonomous Community was formed, and several are now under the competence of the several Island Councils. The prefix denotes the island, and the second letter is lowercase. Autopista identifiers are white on blue background, while twinned roads closer to the autovía category keep their identifiers.
    The lack of highways in several islands should not be taken as a sign of underdevelopment: the road network is well kept, and where highways have not been deemed necessary, expressways are built for an easier upgrade.
    SignalTypeDenominationItineraryC-733 — Ibiza Airport
    InterurbanEje de PonientePalma port — Peguera-
    InterurbanEje CentralPalma — Sa Pobla-
    InterurbanDesdoblamiento de ManacorPalma — Manacor-
    InterurbanEje de LevantePalma — Llucmajor-
    BeltwayVía de CinturaMa-1 — Ma-13 — Ma-19-

    Basque Country

    A special case together with Navarre, the Basque Country has received full powers over most roads in its territory, including the national roads that comprised the primary network, and nowadays only the AP-1 and the AP-68 are under the direct authority of the Spanish government as part of the Red de carreteras del Estado. Currently, roads are managed by the three Diputaciones Forales of the Basque provinces.
    The fact that such transfer took place before the thorough renaming of national roads and highways in 2003 makes the naming of transferred "national" highways inconsistent with the national network: the A-1 is still called the N-I in the Basque Country, and the same identifier applies to the tolled and toll-free parts of the Autopista del Cantábrico in Biscay. Furthermore, new highways built since then by the provinces have one of the following prefixes: A for Álava-Araba, BI for Biscay or GI for Guipúzcoa-Gipuzkoa.
    SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
    InterurbanAutopista de Vitoria Irún por EibarVitoria airport — N-240 — Arrasate-Mondragón — Vergara-Bergara — Eibar
    InterurbanAutopista del CantábricoCantabria/Basque Country border — Bilbao — Eibar — San Sebastián-Donostia — Hernani — Rentería-Errenteria — Irún — Spain/France border
    Partial beltwayVariante Sur Metropolitana de BilbaoA-8 — * — BI-636 — * — AP-68 — * — A-8
    InterurbanAutovía BI-631Bilbao — Mungía
    InterurbanCorridor del CadaguaBilbao — Gueñes
    InterurbanAutovía BI-637Barakaldo — Getxo
    Access roadAutovía BI-644Santurtzi — Bilbao port
    City accessAutovía GI-11Lasarte-Oria — GI-20
    UrbanVariante de Donostia-San SebastiánAP-8 West — GI-11 — GI-21 — GI-636 — AP-8 East
    InterurbanAutovía del UrumeaAndoain — * — Urnieta — AP-8 — San Sebastián-Donostia
    InterurbanAutovía GI-632Vergara-Bergara — * — Zumarraga — Beasain
    City accessWestern access to Vitoria/GasteizN-I — Vitoria-Gasteiz
    InterurbanAutovía de AltubeVitoria-Gasteiz — AP-1/N-624 — AP-68
    Access roadAccess to Vitoria AirportAP-1/N-622 — Vitoria Airport
    UrbanAsúa Valley corridorBarakaldo — BI-637 — BI-634 — Galdakao

    *: in construction — †: planned

    Canary Islands

    Following the example of the other insular community in Spain, all roads in the Canary Islands are under the authority of either the regional government or one of the several Island Councils. The prefix denotes the island, and identifiers are usually white on blue background.
    SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
    InterurbanAutovía FV-2Puerto del Rosario — Fuerteventura Airport, Barranco del Vachuelo — Marabu
    Interurban & urbanAutopista GC-1Las Palmas de Gran Canaria — GC-2 — GC-3 — Telde — Gran Canaria Airport — Arinaga — Maspalomas — Puerto de Mogán
    InterurbanAutopista GC-2Las Palmas de Gran Canaria — GC-20 — Bañaderos, Santa María de Guía — Gáldar
    InterurbanAutopista GC-3Las Mesas — GC-23 — GC-31 — GC-4 — GC-1
    InterurbanAutovía GC-4San Francisco de Paula — Monte Lentiscal
    UrbanAutovía GC-23GC-2 — GC-3
    City accessAutovía GC-31GC-3 — Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
    Ring roadCircunvalación de ArrecifeLZ-18 — LZ-1 — LZ-20 — LZ-2
    InterurbanAutopista del SurSanta Cruz de Tenerife — TF-4 — TF-2 — Candelaria — Tenerife South Airport — Adeje
    UrbanAutovía TF-2TF-5 — TF-1
    City accessAutovía TF-4TF-1 — Santa Cruz de Tenerife
    InterurbanAutopista del NorteSanta Cruz de Tenerife — TF-2 — San Cristóbal de la Laguna — Tenerife North Airport — Puerto de la Cruz
    InterurbanAutovía TF-11Fishing docks — San Andrés

    Castile-La Mancha

    Another community that has recently started building its own high capacity road network, Castile-La Mancha has completed one autovía and has at least five more in varied states of advanced planning and building. In the flat La Mancha, relief does not usually require costly tunnels and bridges, though the region does contain several nature reserves including the Tablas de Daimiel National Park wetlands. Highway identifiers are white on blue background.
    SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
    Partial beltwayRonda Suroeste de ToledoA-40 — TO-21 — CM-42
    InterurbanAutovía de La SagraValmojado — Illescas — * — Borox — * — Seseña
    Borox — * — Añover de Tajo
    InterurbanAutovía de los ViñedosToledo — CM-40 — N-401 — Nambroca — Consuegra — Madridejos — Alcázar de San Juan — Tomelloso
    InterurbanAutovía de la SolanaManzanares — * — La Solana — † — Albacete
    InterurbanAutovía del JúcarCuenca — † — Motilla del Palancar — † — Albacete
    InterurbanAutovía IV CentenarioCiudad Real — * — Almagro — * — Valdepeñas — † — Alcaraz

    *: in construction — †: planned

    Castile and León

    The largest community in Spain by land area, Castile and León has a dense road network, but until recently most of its highways had been part of the national system. The terrain is varied, from the plains of the Meseta to the rugosities of the Montes de León, and archeological remains abound. Regional highways are renamed to A-nnn, always with three digits to avoid clashes with the national network, but usually keeping the original number of the upgraded regional road CL-nnn. Identifiers are white on blue background.
    SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
    InterurbanAutovía A-125La Bañeza — * — Puebla de Sanabria — † — Spain/Portugal border
    InterurbanAutovía del Camino de SantiagoBurgos — Osorno — Sahagún — León
    InterurbanAutovía A-510Salamanca — * — Alba de Tormes
    InterurbanAutovía de PinaresValladolid — Cuéllar — Segovia
    InterurbanAutovía A-610Palencia — Magaz de Pisuerga — † — Aranda de Duero
    InterurbanAutovía de La EspinaPonferrada — * — Toreno — † — Villablino — † — Los Barrios de Luna
    InterurbanAutovía de Las MerindadesBurgos - Viarcayo - Viasana de Mena - - Balmaseda - Bilbao

    *: in construction — †: planned

    Cantabria

    The only community without a high-capacity network of its own, Cantabria is severely held back in such a development by a highly mountainous terrain that multiplies the cost of building any kind of expressway. Thus, its population is served by the national highway network supplemented by regional conventional roads.

    Catalonia

    The second most populated community in Spain, Catalonia has a thorough regional road network, with several highways managed by the Generalitat de Catalunya. Also, the state-owned highways previously known as A-16 through A-19 were transferred to the Catalan government and renamed according to the new regional guidelines enacted in 2004. Highway identifiers are white on blue background.
    SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
    InterurbanAutovía C-14Reus — Alcover
    InterurbanEix del LlobregatBarcelona — Sant Cugat del Vallès — Rubí — Terrassa — Manresa — Berga — † — Puigcerdá — † — France
    Urban & interurbanEix del CongostBarcelona — C-33/C-58 — Montcada — C-33/C-59 — Montmeló — Granollers — Vic — Manlleu — Torelló — * — Ripoll
    InterurbanEix TransversalCervera — * — Manresa — * — Vic — Vic — * — AP-7/Girona Airport — * — Riudellots de la Selva
    InterurbanEix CostanerCastelldefels — Barcelona Airport — El Prat de Llobregat — L'Hospitalet de Llobregat — Barcelona

    Barcelona — B-10 — Badalona — Montgat

    Santa Cristina d'Aro — Platja d'Aro — * — Palamós — Palafrugell
    InterurbanAutovía C-31BTarragona — Salou
    City accessAutovía C-31CSant Boi de Llobregat — El Prat de Llobregat
    City accessAutopista C-31DC-32 — Mataró
    InterurbanCorridor del MediterraniAutopista Pau Casals: El Vendrell — Calafell — Cunit — Vilanova i la Geltrú — Sitges — Castelldefels — B-22 — L'Hospitalet de Llobregat

    Autopista del Maresme: Montgat — Mataró — Arenys de Mar — Sant Pol de Mar — Palafolls — Tordera — † — Lloret de Mar — † — Tossa de Mar
    InterurbanAccess to Barcelona from AP-7Barcelona — Mollet del Vallés — Montmeló
    InterurbanAutovía C-35Vidreres — Llagostera
    InterurbanAutopista del VallèsBarcelona — C-33 — Cerdanyola del Vallès — AP-7 — Sabadell Airport — Sabadell/Sant Quirze del Vallès — Terrassa — C-16
    InterurbanAutovía C-60Mataró — La Roca del Vallès
    InterurbanAutovia C-65Santa Cristina d'Aro — Llagostera — † — Girona
    InterurbanAutovía C-66Sarrià de Ter — Banyoles — † — Besalú
    InterurbanAutovía C-68Figueres — * — Roses

    *: in construction — †: planned

    Extremadura

    A sparsely populated community, Extremadura has a terrain that can be considered favourable for a regional highway plan, as the interior is mostly flat. However, the fact that its northern and north-eastern borders are blocked by mountain ranges with typical elevations of over the main mesa, combined with the mentioned demographics of the territory has traditionally limited the penetration of even the national highway network.
    Nevertheless, the community is in an excellent position for connections between Spain and Portugal, and in the last decade, the regional government has revealed an ambitious plan that would create four to six regional highways. In addition to the vertebration of the Extremaduran territory, some of these roads are explicitly meant to provide alternative routes to the two national highways in the region, establishing connections between them and an additional route to Portugal to the north of the current one.
    It is the policy of the regional government to avoid twinning existing roads, so instead all autovías are built from scratch even if they are parallel to the old road. All Extremaduran highways are currently named EX-An, with white identifiers on blue background. Some of them have branches named EX-An-Rm, which also have white-on-blue identifiers, but such branches need not be highways themselves even if they are built concurrently with the main road.
    SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
    InterurbanAutovía EX-A1Navalmoral de la Mata — Malpartida de Plasencia — Plasencia — * — Coria — * — Moraleja — † — Spain/Portugal border
    InterurbanAutovía EX-A2Miajadas — Don Benito — Villanueva de la Serena
    InterurbanAutovía EX-A3Zafra — * — Jerez de los Caballeros
    InterurbanAutovía EX-A4Cáceres — † — Badajoz

    *: in construction — †: planned

    Galicia

    Often compared to Scotland because of its orographic similarities, Galicia is a hilly but not mountainous region with an approximate population of 3M people. Its highway network mainly functions as the terminal part of trips, since the vertebral function is mainly coped by the national system. Identifiers start with AG and are white on blue background.
    SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
    InterurbanAutovía del BarbanzaRianxo — Boiro — Ribeira
    InterurbanAutovía del SalnésMeis — Sanxenxo — * — O Grove
    InterurbanAutovía do MorrazoVilaboa — Moaña — Cangas do Morrazo — * — Aldán
    Access roadAccess to PLISANA-52 — † — Salvaterra-As Neves Industrial and Logistic Platform
    InterurbanAutovía AG-52Tui — † — Tomiño
    InterurbanAutoestrada Central GalegaDozón — Cea — Maside — A-52
    Access roadAccess to O CarballiñoMaside — O Carballiño
    InterurbanAutoestrada da Costa da MorteA Coruña — Arteixo — Laracha — Carballo — † — Fisterra
    InterurbanAutovía AG-56Santiago de Compostela — Brión — Gundín — * — Noia
    InterurbanAutoestrada do Val MiñorVigo — AG-57N — Ramallosa — * — Baiona
    Access roadAutopista AG-57NAG-57 — Nigrán
    Access roadAutovía AG-58AG-59 — Cacheiras
    Access roadAutovía AG-59Santiago de Compostela — AG-58 — Raris — * — Pontevea — * — A Estrada
    InterurbanAutovía Ferrol - VilalbaFerrol — Rio do Pozo industrial development — Narón — As Pontes de García Rodríguez — Vilalba

    *: in construction — †: planned

    La Rioja

    The small and mountainous region of La Rioja has just started planning regional highways of its own. After an initial plan to upgrade the LR-134 road was downgraded to a simple twinning with roundabout intersections, a study is now being drawn to build at least a true highway connecting the national highways AP-68 and A-12, with a possible projection into the south of the community. Another highway would provide access from the regional capital beltway to the tolled AP-68.
    SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
    InterurbanAutovía LR-111Haro — † — Santo Domingo de la Calzada — † — Ezcaray
    Access roadAutovía LR-250Logroño — † — Villamediana de Iregua

    *: in construction — †: planned

    Madrid

    The region containing the capital city of Spain, Madrid ranks the 3rd community by population, and is by far the most densely populated. Even though it contains the centre of the national radial highway system, the Madrid regional government has dedicated vast resources during the last decade to upgrade the regional road network and, where necessary, create new high-capacity roads that both complement the national system and vertebrate zones of the community not covered by the national network.
    Madrid regional highways have codes that are no different from other regional roads, with orange, green and yellow backgrounds, even for newly built highways like the M-45. Usually, the upgrade of long roads, twinned or not, to the motorway level is not undertaken at once, so the list below only contains the itinerary for the spans that actually run as highways or have been planned to. For example, the M-506 is "broken" at its connection with the M-419 and the A-42 by a succession of roundabouts until the link with the R-4, so in the list it is separated in two highway stretches.
    SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
    Partial beltwayAutopista M-45Madrid/Leganés — R-5 — A-42/M-402 — A-4 — M-301 — M-31 — A-3 — R-3 — Coslada — San Fernando de Henares — M-50
    InterurbanAutovía M-100San Sebastián de los Reyes — † — M-106/M-111 — † — Cobeña — † — Daganzo de Arriba — * — R-2 — A-2/M-203
    InterurbanAutopista eje EsteMejorada del Campo — * — Soto de Aldovea — M-224 — A-2/M-100
    InterurbanAutovía M-206Torrejón de Ardoz — * — Loeches
    UrbanAutovía M-402Madrid — * — Leganés — † — Leganés
    InterurbanAutovía M-404Navalcarnero — * — R-5 — * — El Álamo — * — Serranillos del Valle — * — Griñón — * — Torrejón de la Calzada — * — R-4 — * — Valdemoro — * — Ciempozuelos
    Interurban & beltwayAutovía M-406Leganés — M-409 — M-407 — Alcorcón
    InterurbanAutovía M-407Leganés — * — M-50 — * — Fuenlabrada — M-410 — Griñón
    InterurbanAutovía M-409Leganés — M-50 — Fuenlabrada
    InterurbanAutovía M-423Pinto — Valdemoro
    InterurbanCarretera de CastillaMadrid — M-503 — A-6
    InterurbanAutovía de los PantanosM-40/M-511 — Boadilla del Monte — Villaviciosa de Odón — Brunete — Chapinería — Navas del Rey
    InterurbanAutovía eje NoroesteM-500 — * — Pozuelo de Alarcón — M-40 — M-50 — Villanueva del Pardillo — Villanueva de la Cañada
    Interurban & urbanAutovía M-506Western stretch: Villaviciosa de Odón — † — Alcorcón — Móstoles — M-407 — Fuenlabrada — M-419
    Eastern stretch: R-4 — Pinto — M-423 — Warner Madrid Theme Park — † — San Martín de la Vega — † — Arganda del Rey
    InterurbanAutovía M-509M-50 — * — Villanueva del Pardillo
    InterurbanAutovía M-600Villanueva de la Cañada — † — Brunete — † — Sevilla la Nueva — † — Navalcarnero
    InterurbanAutovía de ColmenarMadrid — M-40 — Alcobendas — Tres Cantos — Colmenar Viejo
    InterurbanAutovía M-609Colmenar Viejo — * — Soto del Real

    *: in construction — †: planned

    Murcia

    The coastal region of Murcia is an important touristic destination in Spain. Its nearly 1.5 million inhabitants are mainly concentrated in the eastern part of the community, from Murcia city to the coast, while inland zones of Yecla, Jumilla and Caravaca de la Cruz are more sparsely populated. The national highway network provides good connectivity along the coast, with three highways links with Andalusia and another three with the Valencian Community, but only the A-30 motorway connects Murcia with inland Spain. It is thus the goal of the regional government to provide alternative highway corridors that connect the inland border of Murcia to the coastal zones.
    All in all, the autonomous government is investing heavily in its highway network, both for trips along the coast and inland-coast connectivity. Due to the expansion of the regional network that this effort is expected to produce, Murcia has recently implemented a new naming scheme for its regional highways, more in accordance with the national network. When the renaming is complete, all highways will be identified by white-on-blue names that start with RM.
    SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
    InterurbanAutovía RM-1San Javier — Zeneta
    InterurbanAutovía Alhama - Campo de CartagenaAlhama — RM-23 — Fuente Álamo — Cartagena
    InterurbanAutovía RM-3Totana — RM-23 — Mazarrón
    InterurbanAutovía RM-11Lorca — N-332 — Águilas
    Access roadAutovía de La MangaCartagena — El Algar — La Manga del Mar Menor
    InterurbanAutovía del NoroesteAlcantarilla — Mula — Caravaca de la Cruz
    Access roadAutovía del Mar MenorA-30 — Polaris World — San Javier
    InterurbanAutovía de conexión RM-23RM-2 — RM-3

    *: in construction — †: planned

    Navarre

    The Foral Community of Navarre is another community with full powers over most roads in its territory. However, in contrast to the neighbouring Basque Country, the regional government has decided to keep the identifiers of some highways — namely, those which were part of a national highway before being transferred — in sync with the national system. The only road in Navarrese territory not under the authority of the regional government is the national toll highway AP-68, which was kept by the state to avoid a four-pronged management by the concessionaire and the Basque, Navarrese and Spanish governments.
    SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
    InterurbanAutovía del NorteÁlava/Navarre border — Ziordia — Altsasu — Navarre/Guipúzcoa limit
    InterurbanAutovía de la BarrancaIrurtzun — Irañeta — Lakuntza — Arbizu — Etxarri-Aranatz — Altsasu
    InterurbanAutovía del Camino de SantiagoZizur Mayor — Puente la Reina — Estella-Lizarra — Los Arcos — Lazagurría — Viana — * — Navarre/La Rioja border
    InterurbanAutovía A-15Ronda de Pamplona Oeste : Noain — PA-30 — Pamplona-Iruña — Zizur Mayor — Orkoyen — Berriozar — AP-15
    Autovía de Leitzaran: Irurtzun — Lekunberri — Azpirotz — Areso — Navarre/Guipúzcoa border
    InterurbanAutopista AP-15Southern stretch: AP-68 — A-68 — Castejón — Tafalla — Pueyo — Baranoain/Garinoain — NA-601/N-121 — Noain
    Northern stretch: A-15 — PA-34 — Sarasate — Irurtzun
    InterurbanAutovía del PirineoNoain — Monreal — Ibargoiti — * — Liédena — * — Yesa — * — Navarre/Huesca border
    InterurbanAutopista del EbroZaragoza/Navarre border — Cortes — Fontellas — Tudela — Liédena — AP-15/N-232
    Partial beltwayRonda de PamplonaA-15 — Pamplona — Aranguren — PA-33 — Olaz — NA-150
    Access roadWestern access to PamplonaAP-15 — Berriozar — Pamplona-Iruña

    *: in construction — †: planned

    Valencian Community

    The fourth Spanish autonomous community by population and a preferred tourist destination, the Valencian Community has a varied terrain, from great plains to seaside mountain ranges, and a territory of generally high ecological value. Nevertheless, the regional government has pushed for a rich and dense highway network, building connections between the various national highways that serve the Community and beltways for the provincial capitals.
    Like highways in Madrid and Andalusia, Valencian regional motorways do not have special identifiers different from other autonomic roads, so orange, green and yellow backgrounds are possible. All identifiers are prefixed with CV for Comunitat Valenciana, the official name of the region.
    The regional highway CV-10 is currently being expanded to the limit with Catalonia and will be transferred to the national Government as a new stretch of the A-7. The same applies to the CV-40 highway.
    SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
    InterurbanAutovía de la PlanaNules — Betxí — CV-20 — Castellón de la Plana — CV-16 — Borriol — La Pobla Tornesa — Cabanes — * — Vilanova d'Alcolea — † — La Jana — † — Castellón/Tarragona border
    InterurbanAutovía CV-18Castellón de la Plana — † — Almassora — * — Burriana — † — Nules
    Partial beltwayRonda Nord de ValènciaV-30 — Paterna — Valencia — † — Alboraia — † — V-21
    UrbanDistribuïdor NordPaterna — CV-365 — Burjassot
    InterurbanEix de la GombaldaMassalfassar — * — Massamagrell/Museros — † — A-7
    InterurbanDistribuïdor SudTorrent — Albal
    Urban & interurbanAutovía de AdemuzValencia — Burjassot — A-7 — San Antonio de Benagéber — La Pobla de Vallbona — CV-50 — Llíria
    IinterurbanAutovía de TorrentValencia — Picanya — Torrent — Alaquàs — El Mas del Jutge — A-7
    InterurbanAutovía CV-40Xàtiva — Ontinyent — Albaida — * — Cocentaina — * — Alcoi — * — A-7
    InterurbanAutovía CV-60L'Olleria — † — Alfarrasí — † — CV-610 — Gandia
    InterurbanAutovía CV-70Alcoi — † — Polop — † — Benidorm
    InterurbanAutovía CV-80Sax — Castalla — A-7
    UrbanNortheastern access to PaternaBurjassot — CV-31 — V-11/V-30
    UrbanAutovía del SalerValencia — V-30 — El Saler
    Partial beltwayRonda Sud de ElxEL-20 — † — CV-866

    *: in construction — †: planned