Spain’s Supreme Court has once again annulled the government’s calculation of the financial settlement owed to concessionaires for the R-3 and R-5 radial highways in Madrid, demanding a final resolution and payment to avoid further delays. The ruling, dated January 28, 2026, invalidates the latest government assessment, which proposed a payment of €570 million to the companies involved.
This marks the second time the Supreme Court has rejected the government’s calculations, having previously found fault with the initial formula used. Whereas prior rulings focused on the methodology of the calculation, this latest decision centers on the need for a definitive resolution and full payment to the concessionaires, according to reports from Fuentes Informadas and El País.
The highways, part of a single concession awarded in 1999 to a consortium including ACS, OHLA, Sacyr, and FCC, entered operation in 2004. They fell into bankruptcy administration in 2012, with funds like TDA, Bothar, and Kommunalkredit acquiring the debt in anticipation of future state compensation. The state assumed management of the highways following the financial crisis of 2008.
In 2019, the government initiated a plan to streamline the indemnification process for the bankrupt highway concessionaires, establishing a three-stage resolution system – initial, supplementary, and final – with a six-month timeframe between each stage. However, according to the Supreme Court, only one of the nine affected highways has reached a final resolution in the nearly seven years since the plan’s implementation.
The repeated annulments and delays have prompted the court to urge the government to expedite the process. The current ruling does not challenge the economic amount itself, but rather insists on the issuance of a final resolution and the fulfillment of outstanding payments.
To date, the state has disbursed €1.684 billion in compensation for the nine highways, though this figure remains provisional as most cases are still in the second resolution phase. Payments made to date include €134 million for the R-4, €319 million for the A-36, €41 million for the A-41, €278 million for the AP-7 Cartagena-Vera, €307 million for the AP-7 Alicante, and €46 million for the M-12. Notably, no payment has yet been made for the R-2 highway.
The Supreme Court’s decision underscores the ongoing challenges in resolving the financial fallout from the 2008 financial crisis and the complexities of public-private infrastructure projects. The government has not yet announced a timeline for issuing a final resolution regarding the R-3 and R-5 highways.
