Highways in Spain

(Redirected from Autopista AP-69)

The Spanish motorway (highway) network is the third largest in the world, by length. As of 2019, there are 17,228 km (10,705 mi) of High Capacity Roads[1][2] (Spanish: Vías de Gran Capacidad) 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.

Highway network in Spain. The caption reads «Autovía and autopista network - Tolled autopistas - State autopistas and autovías - Autonomic tolled autopistas - Autonomic autopistas and autovías - Insular autovías and autopistas»

History

Between 1990 and 2012 Spain had one of the highest rates of motorway growth in Europe.[3]

The first motorways named autopista were financed using sovereign debt.[4]

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.[4] 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.[4]

Building of new sections of autovia was increased before the 1992 Olympic Games and the Sevilla World Fair.[4]

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).[4] 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.[4]

Since traffic density is generally lower in Spain than France, it was required that some motorways were to be untolled.[4] Despite a lower traffic density, Spanish motorways remain profitable, because tolls are twice higher in Spain than in France.[4]

Between 2005 and 2014, Spain was the EU country which best performed for decreasing fatalities on motorways, with a decrease score of 66%.[5]

Increase of the Spanish motorway network
The length of motorways and other roads is expressed in kilometers. It was reported as of 31 December 2015.[6]
Sources:

Differences between autopista and autovía

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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 60–120 km/h (35–75 mph), though there are groups that ask for the latter to be raised to 140 km/h (85 mph).[7] 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 60 km/h (35 mph) 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.[8] 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.

On the other hand, autovías are usually (though not always) 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 (which are looped around in variantes). 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:

  • Allows traffic banned from an autopista, like bicycles. However, if the autovía is built as a new road instead of an upgrade to an older one, this traffic may be banned too.
  • May have little to no hard shoulders, which are then marked with a solid line instead of the broken line of a transitable hard shoulder.
  • May have acceleration and deceleration lanes that are much shorter than those of autopistas.
  • May have tighter turns and steeper gradients than an autopista is allowed to.
  • If space-constrained, it may even have bus stops on a service lane in the autovía itself, as opposed to requiring them to be placed on a service lane physically separated from the main road.
  • Also if extremely space-constrained, there can be acceleration and deceleration lanes merging on the left lane of the 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 (with at-level intersections) 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.[9]

Spain is one of the countries of the EU with most of the road fatalities occurring on motorways rather than on other roads: 16% in 2015. But the same year, taking into account the fact that Spain has a larger network of road than motorways, Spain is one of the countries with the lowest motorway fatality-rates per 1.000 km of motorways, after Finland, Denmark, Croatia, and Hungary: 18.1 fatalities per 1000 kilometers of motorways.[9]

Effective speed

Source: [1]

Colour code

Spain uses this color code for highways.[10]

  • Blue for motorways owned by the national government or private companies (tolled). Some regional governments also use blue.
  • Red for all other roads owned by the national government.
  • Orange for first-tier roads owned by regional governments.
  • Green for second-tier roads owned by regional governments.
  • Yellow for third-tier roads owned by regional governments, and for roads owned by provincial governments.

State-managed motorways

Most of the high capacity roads in Spain are under the authority of the General Roads Directorate (Spanish: Dirección General de Carreteras) 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:

  • Interurban free-to-use motorways are named "A-" plus:
    • one number, if it is one of the major axes of Spain, being A-1 to A-6 the six radial highways stemming from Madrid, A-7 the highway through the Mediterranean coast, and A-8 the highway through the Cantabrian (northern) coast. Number 9 is reserved for the highway through the Atlantic coast of Galicia, but it is a toll road, so it is named AP-9 (see below).
    • two numbers, elsewhere.
  • Beltways are named with a one or two letter code identifying the city they orbit, plus two digits indicative of the general distance. For example, the M-50 is further from the city of Madrid than the M-40.
  • City access motorways are named similarly to beltways, like TO-21 for a freeway leaving the A-40 towards Toledo.
  • Tolled motorways add a "P" (thus, "AP-") before the dash, and must be clearly identified as such in road signs. For example, AP-9.
    • An exception to this naming rule are the radial toll motorways starting in Madrid, R-2 through R-5

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

Map of Spanish autovias and autopistas

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[clarification needed] 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:

  • Build a new set of radial autopistas (named R-n instead of A-n) complementary to the old radial autovías near Madrid. Such tolled autopistas would form a new system of accesses to the capital that merges with their autovía counterparts far from Madrid. The main advantage to these roads is that they allow true fast travel from the first kilometre, while the radial autovías near Madrid (among the oldest autovía stretches in Spain) frequently go through populations, have constant entries and exits and suffer several other conditions which both jam them and make their first kilometres limited to speeds well under the normal 120 km/h (75 mph) limit.
  • Invest heavily in de-radialization efforts that create true cross-country high-capacity axes without passing through Madrid. For example, the A-66 (Autovía Ruta de la Plata) which connects the southern Andalusia with the northwest area of the country, or the A-43 which will connect the western Extremadura region with the east of Spain.

*: under construction

: planned

SignalDenominationItinerary[11]
A-1Autovía del NorteMadrid (M-30, M-40) — Alcobendas/San Sebastián de los Reyes (M-12) — M-50 — El Molar (R-1) — Aranda de Duero (A-11) — Burgos West (BU-30) — AP-1 — Burgos Northeast (BU-30) — N-I/AP-1
R-1Autopista Radial 1Madrid (M-12) — † — M-50 — † — El Molar (A-1)
AP-1Autopista del NorteBurgos (A-1) — N-I/A-1 — Briviesca — Pancorbo — Miranda de Ebro (AP-68) — Armiñón (N-I/A-1)
A-2Autovía del NordesteMadrid (M-30, M-40, M-22) — Coslada/San Fernando de HenaresTorrejón de Ardoz (M-50) — Alcalá de Henares (M-203/M-100) — Guadalajara (R-2) — Medinaceli (A-15) — Zaragoza (Z-40, A-68) — AP-2

Fraga — AP-2 — Lleida (A-22, LL-11) — Cervera (C-25) — Martorell (AP-7) — B-23 — L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (B-10)
Tordera (C-32) — * — Caldes de MalavellaFornells de la Selva — † — Girona — † — Figueres — † — France

R-2Autopista Radial 2Madrid (M-40)—M-50—Guadalajara A-2
AP-2Autopista del NordesteZaragoza—Lleida—El Vendrell
A-3Autovía del EsteMadrid (M-30)—Atalaya del CañavateValencia
R-3Autopista Radial 3Madrid (M-30)—Arganda del Rey (A-3)—*—Tarancón(A-3)
A-4Autovía del SurMadrid (M-30)—CórdobaSeville, Jerez de la FronteraA-48
R-4Autopista Radial 4Madrid (M-50)—Aranjuez—Ocaña (A-4/A-40/AP-36)
AP-4Autopista del SurSeville—Cádiz
A-5Autovía del SuroesteMadrid (M-30)—Talavera de la ReinaNavalmoral de la Mata(EX-A-1)—Trujillo(A-58)—MéridaBadajoz—Portugal
R-5Autopista Radial 5Madrid (M-40)—Navalcarnero (A-5)
A-6Autovía del NoroesteMadrid—Villalba, AdaneroTordesillasBenaventeLugoA Coruña
AP-6Autopista del NoroesteVillalba—Adanero
A-7Autovía del MediterráneoTarragonaL'Hospitalet de l'Infant, Puçol—Valencia—Silla, CrevillentMurciaAlmeríaMotrilMálagaAlgeciras
AP-7Autopista del MediterráneoFrance—La JonqueraGironaBarcelonaTarragona—Puçol, Silla—Alicante, Crevillent—CartagenaVera, Málaga—Guadiaro
A-8Autovía del CantábricoBilbaoCastro UrdialesLaredoTorrelavegaLlanesVillaviciosaGijónAvilésLuarcaNaviaRibadeoMondoñedoVilalba—Baamonde
AP-8Autopista AP-8BilbaoIrun
AP-9Autopista del AtlánticoFerrol—A Coruña—SantiagoPontevedraVigoTui (A-55)
A-11Autovía del DueroSoria–*–Aranda de Duero—*—ValladolidTordesillasToroZamora—*—Portugal
A-12Autovía del Camino de SantiagoPamplonaLogroño—*—Burgos
A-13Autovía A-13Acceso Sureste-Nordeste de Logroño—*—Soria
A-14Autovía de la RibagorzaLleida—Almenar—*—Vielha—†—France
A-15Autovía de NavarraMedinaceli—Soria—*—TudelaTafalla-PamplonaIrurtzunVillabona-Andoain-Hernani-Donostia/San Sebastián
A-21Autovía del PirineoPamplona—*—Jaca
A-22Autovía Huesca-LleidaLleidaMonzónSiétamo—*—Huesca
A-23Autovía MudéjarSaguntoTeruel—Zaragoza—Huesca—Jaca (N-330)
A-24Autovía Daroca-BurgosDaroca—*—Calatayud—*—Soria—*—Burgos
A-25Autovía A-25Alcolea—Monreal
A-26Autovía del Eje PirenaicoBesalúOlot
A-27Autovía Tarragona-LleidaTarragona—Valls—*—Montblanc (AP-2)
A-28Autovía de la AlcarriaGuadalajara—Tarancón
A-30Autovía de MurciaAlbacete (A-31)—Murcia—Cartagena
A-31Autovía de AlicanteAtalaya del Cañavate (A-3)—La Roda—Albacete—AlmansaAlicante
A-32Autovía Linares-AlbaceteBailénLinares—*—Albacete
A-33Autovía Cieza-Font de la FigueraCiezaJumilla—*—Yecla—*—Font de la Figuera
A-34Autovía A-34L'Hospitalet de l'Infant—*—Vila-Seca
A-35Autovía Almansa-XàtivaAlmansa (A-31)—Xàtiva (A-7)
AP-36Autopista Ocaña-La RodaOcaña (A-4/R-4)—Quintanar de la Orden—La Roda (A-31)
AP-37Autopista Alicante-MurciaAlicante—†—Murcia
A-38Autovía A-38Valencia (AP-7)—Cullera—*—Gandia
A-40Autovía de Castilla-La ManchaÁvila—*—MaquedaToledo—*—OcañaTarancónCuenca—*—Teruel
AP-41Autopista AP-41Madrid (R-5)—Toledo, Almadén—*—Espiel
A-42Autovía de ToledoMadrid—Toledo
A-43Autovía Extremadura-Comunidad ValencianaMérida—*—Ciudad Real—ManzanaresVillarrobledo—Atalaya del Cañavate (A-3)
A-44Autovía de Sierra NevadaBailén (A-4)—JaénGranadaMotril (A-7)
A-45Autovía de MálagaCórdoba (A-4)—Antequera—Málaga (A-7)
AP-46Autopista AP-46Puerto de las Pedrizas (A-45)—Málaga (A-7)
A-48Autovía A-48Cádiz—Algeciras
A-49Autovía del Quinto CentenarioSeville—HuelvaAyamonte—Portugal
A-50Autovía de la CulturaÁvilaSalamanca
AP-51Conexión ÁvilaVillacastín (AP-6)–Ávila
A-52Autovía de las Rías BajasBenaventeOurenseO Porriño (A-55)
AP-53Autopista Central GallegaOurense–Santiago
A-54Autovía A-54Lugo–*–Santiago
A-55Autovía del AtlánticoVigo–O Porriño–Tui–Portugal
A-56Autovía A-56Guntín de Pallares–*–Ourense
A-57Autovía A-57A Cañiza–*–Pontevedra
A-58Autovía Trujillo - CáceresTrujillo (A-5)–Cáceres
A-59Autovía Pontevedra-VigoVilaboa–†–Peinador
A-60Autovía A-60Valladolid–*–León
AP-61Conexión SegoviaSan Rafael (AP-6)–Segovia
A-62Autovía de CastillaBurgos–Valladolid–Salamanca–Fuentes de Oñoro–Portugal
A-63Autovía A-63OviedoLa Espina
A-64Autovía A-64Villaviciosa–Oviedo
A-65Autovía A-65Benavente–*–Palencia
A-66Autovía Ruta de la PlataNorthern span: Gijón (A-8) — AS-II — Oviedo (A-66a, A-63) — AP-66/N-630

Southern span: La Robla (N-630) — † — León (AP-66/AP-71, A-231) — Benavente (A-52/A-6) — Zamora (A-11) — Salamanca (A-62) — Plasencia (EX-A1) — Cáceres — Mérida (A-5) — Seville (SE-30)

AP-66Autopista Ruta de la PlataCampomanes (A-66/N-630) — León (A-66/AP-71)
A-67Autovía Cantabria-MesetaSantander–*–TorrelavegaReinosaAguilar de Campóo—Palencia–Venta de BañosA-62
AP-68Autopista Vasco-aragonesaBilbao–Miranda de Ebro-Logroño–Tudela-Zaragoza
AP-71Autopista León - AstorgaLeón (A-66/AP-66/LE-30)–Astorga (A-6)
A-72Autovía A-72Monforte de Lemos–*–Chantada
A-73Autovía A-73Burgos–*–Aguilar de Campoo
A-74Autovía A-74Almadén–*–Autovía A-43
A-75Autovía Verín - Frontera PortuguesaVerín (A-52)–Portugal
A-76Autovía A-76Ponferrada–*–Ourense
A-78Autovía A-78CrevillentElche
A-79Vía Parque Alicante-ElcheAlicante–Elche
A-80Autovía del SellaRibadesella–*–Cangas de Onís
A-91Autovía A-91Puerto LumbrerasVélez Rubio

Beltways, city accesses and urban highways

[citation needed]

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 Coruña AC-10A Coruña Inner BeltwayAC-11—AC-12
AC-11Access to A Coruña from AP-9Avda. Alfonso Molina
AC-12Access to A Coruña from N-VISan Pedro de Nos (N-VI)—A Coruña docks
AC-14Southern access from A-6A-6—A Coruña
Alicante A-70Alicante First BeltwayCampello (AP-7)—Elche (A-7)
A-77North east route to AlicanteAlicante (A-70)—A-7
Almería AL-12Eastern access to AlmeríaEl Toyo (A-7)—Airport—Almería
AL-14Almería docks accessA-7—Almería docks
Ávila AV-20Ávila BeltwayAP-51—N-110
Avilés AI-81Eastern access to AvilésA-8—Avilés
Barcelona B-10Barcelona Coastal Beltway
B-20Barcelona Inner Beltway
B-21Second access to Barcelona Airport*
B-22Access to Barcelona AirportC-32—C-31—Barcelona Airport
B-23Access to Western Barcelona from AP-7Molins de Rei (AP-2, AP-7)—B-20—Avda. Diagonal
B-24Autovía B-24Vallirana (N-340)—Molins de Rei (A-2)
B-30AP-7 outer lanesMolins de Rei (A-2)—C-58
B-40Barcelona Metropolitan BeltwayAbrera (AP-7)—La Roca del Vallés (C-60)
Burgos BU-11Autovía BU-11A-1,BU-30—Burgos
BU-30Burgos BeltwayA-1 Madrid—A-62—A-231—*—N-623—A-1 Vitoria—AP-1
Cádiz CA-30Jerez de la Frontera beltwayJerez Airport (A-4)—A-480—N-IVa—*—A-381
CA-31Northern access to El Puerto de Santa MaríaA-4—El Puerto de Santa María
CA-32Southern access to El Puerto de Santa MaríaAP-4—El Puerto de Santa María
CA-33Cádiz to San FernandoCádiz—San Fernando (A-4, A-48)
CA-34Access to GibraltarSan Roque (A-7)—La Línea de la ConcepciónGibraltar
CA-35New access to Cádiz via La Pepa BridgePuerto Real (AP-4)—Cádiz
CA-36Old access to Cádiz via Carranza BridgePuerto Real (CA-35)—Cádiz
CA-37Autovía CA-37Puerto Real (AP-4)—CA-32
Cartagena CT-31Western access to CartagenaAP-7 (815)—Cartagena
CT-32Eastern access to CartagenaA-30—AP-7 (800)
CT-33Access to Cartagena docksA-30—Cartagena docks
CT-34Access to EscombrerasA-30—Escombreras Valley industrial area
Castellón de la Plana CS-22Access to Castellón docksN-340—Castellón docks
Córdoba CO-31Córdoba Northern BeltwayN-432—A-4
CO-32Córdoba Western BeltwayA-45 - Córdoba
Cuenca CU-11Autovía CU-11A-40—Cuenca (Avda. República Argentina)
Elche EL-20Elche BeltwayA-7—CV-85
Gijón GJ-81Autopista GJ-81A-8—Calle de Sanz Crespo
Granada GR-14Western access to Motril portA-7—Motril port
GR-16Eastern access to Motril portA-7—Motril port
GR-30Granada BeltwayA-44—A-92—*—N-432—*—GR-43—*—A-92G—*—A-44
GR-43North-western access to GranadaPinos Puente (N-432)—*—Granada (A-92G)
Huelva H-30Huelva BeltwayN-441—H-31—Huelva docks (N-442)
H-31Access to HuelvaA-49—Huelva (H-30)
Jaén J-12Northern access to JaénA-316—Jaén
León LE-12Autovía LE-12LE-30—LE-20
LE-30León BeltwayA-66—N-630—LE-12
Lleida LL-11Eastern access to LleidaA-2—Lleida (LL-12)
LL-12Southern access to LleidaAP-2—Lleida (LL-11)
Logroño LO-20Logroño BeltwayAP-68—N-232
Lugo LU-11Autovía LU-11Southwest access A-6—Lugo
LU-12Autovía LU-12A-54—Vilamoure
LU-021Autovía LU-021East Ring of Lugo N-640—LU-11
Madrid M-11Western access to Madrid AirportM-30 (Manoteras, A-1 junction)—M-40—M-12—M-14-Madrid Airport terminals 1, 2 & 3
M-12Airport Axis Toll MotorwayM-40 (Av. Logroño)—M-11—Airport terminal 4—A-1
M-13Autovía M-13 (Connection between Madrid Airport terminals)M-14 (Airport terminals 1, 2 & 3) — M-12 (Airport terminal 4)
M-14Southern access to Madrid AirportM-40 (Metropolitano Stadium) — A-2 (Dwight D. Eisenhower junction) — Airport terminals 1, 2 & 3 — M-13
M-21Access to Coslada and San Fernando de HenaresMadrid (M-40)-Coslada-San Fernando de Henares (M-50)
M-22Eastern access to Madrid AirportMadrid Airport - Coslada
M-23O'Donnell AxisMadrid (O'Donnell St.) — M-30 — M-40 (Vicálvaro) — Continues to Arganda del Rey as R-3 (toll)
M-30[12]Calle 30 (Madrid City Center Beltway)
Surrounds the city center of Madrid. Consists of:

Avenida de la Paz (Eastern section) A-1/M-11—A-2—M-23—A-3—A-4
Avenida del Manzanares (Western section) A-4-A-42—A-5—M-500—A-6—M-40
Avenida de la Ilustración (Northern section, unfinished) M-40 * M-607 * A-1/M-11

M-31Autovía M-31 (Southeastern link from M-40 to M-50)M-40 (Mercamadrid/El Pozo del Tío Raimundo)—M-45—M-50 (Perales del Río)
M-40M-40 (Madrid City Beltway)A-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
Surrounds most of the city of Madrid and the neighbour town of Pozuelo de Alarcón. Only the Madrid city districts of Barajas, Vicálvaro, Villa de Vallecas and Villaverde fall outside the M-40.
M-50M-50 (Madrid Metropolitan Beltway)A-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
Surrounds all the city of Madrid and the neighbouring municipalities of Alcobendas, San Sebastián de los Reyes, Paracuellos del Jarama, Coslada, San Fernando de Henares, Getafe, Leganés, Alcorcón, Boadilla del Monte (part), Majadahonda and Las Rozas de Madrid. The northern section through the Monte de El Pardo park is unfinished.
Málaga MA-20Málaga western beltwayTorremolinos (A-7) — Málaga — Málaga
MA-21Málaga to TorremolinosTorremolinos (A-7) — Málaga Airport — Málaga
MA-22Access to the Port of Málaga(A-7) — Port of Málaga
MA-23Access to the Málaga AirportA-7 — Málaga Airport — MA-20
MA-24Eastern access to MálagaRincón de la Victoria (A-7) — N-340 — MA-113 — Málaga (A-7)
MA-40Málaga Second BeltwayTorremolinos (A-7) — * — A-404 — * — A-357 — * — AP-46 — * — Málaga (A-7)
Murcia MU-30Murcia BeltwayMurcia (A-30) — N-340a — A-7 — C-415
RM-1Santomera-San JavierSan Javier AP-7 — RM-301 — Santomera RM-301 — A-30
Oviedo O-11Eastern access to OviedoA-66 — Oviedo (Ronda Sur)
O-12Western access to OviedoA-66 — Oviedo (León Avenue)
A-66AAutovía A-66aA-66 — Oviedo (Gen. Elorza St.)
Palencia P-11Southern access to PalenciaA-67 — Palencia (Madrid Avenue)
Pontevedra PO-10Autovía PO-10PO-11 — AP-9 — N-550
PO-11Access to MarínPO-10 — Marín (port)
Puertollano PT-10Northern access to PuertollanoA-41 — Puertollano
Salamanca SA-11Northern access to SalamancaA-62/N-630 - N-620
SA-20Southern Ring of SalamancaA-50 — A-66
Santander S-10Eastern access to SantanderA-8 — S-30 — CA-141 — N-635 — Santander Airport — A-67 — Santander (N-623, Castilla Avenue)
S-20Western access to SantanderA-67 — S-30 — Santander (Constitución Avenue)
S-30Santander Bay RondaS-20 — A-67 — * — N-623 — * — S-10
Santiago de Compostela SC-11Southern access to SantiagoAP-53/AP-9 — SC-20
SC-20Autovía SC-20N-550 — A-54 — AP-9 — SC-11
SC-21Access to Santiago AirportA-54 — Santiago de Compostela Airport
Seville SE-20Seville northern beltwayA-4 (North) — Isla de La Cartuja
SE-30Seville city beltwayA-4 (North) — A-92 — A-396 — N-IV — A-4 (South) — A-8058 — A-49 — SE-20
SE-40Seville metropolitan beltway*
Soria SO-20Autovía SO-20A-15 — N-122 — N-234
Tarragona T-11Autovía Tarragona-ReusTarragona (N-241) — A-7 — AP-7 — Reus Airport — C-14/T-315 — Reus (T-310) — N-420a
Toledo TO-20Toledo BeltwayN-403a — TO-21 — A-42 — AP-41/TO-22
TO-21Western access to ToledoA-40 (West) — TO-20
TO-22Eastern access to ToledoTO-20 — AP-41
Valencia V-11Access to Valencia AirportA-3 — Valencia Airport
V-21North-Eastern access to ValenciaA-7/V-23 (Puzol) — CV-32 — Valencia (Ronda Nord)
V-23Access to SaguntoA-7/V-21 — A-23 — Sagunto
V-30Valencia BeltwayCV-500 — V-31 — CV-36 — A-3 — CV-30 — V-11 — A-7
V-31Southern access to Valencia (Silla motorway)A-7 (Silla — V-30
Valladolid VA-11Eastern access to ValladolidA-11 — VA-30 — Valladolid (Soria Avenue)
VA-21Southern access to ValladolidN-601 — VA-30 — VA-20 — Valladolid (Madrid Avenue)
VA-20Valladolid Beltway
VA-30Autovía VA-30*
Vigo AP-9VAccess to Vigo from AP-9AP-9 — Vigo
VG-10Primer cinturónCastrelos — Bouzas terminal
VG-20Autovía VG-20VG-10 Navia - AG-57 - AP-9 Rebullon
Zamora ZA-12Eastern access to ZamoraA-11 (East) — Zamora (N-122)
Zaragoza Z-32Western access to ZaragozaN-403a — TO-21 — A-42 — AP-41/TO-22
Z-40Zaragoza Fourth BeltwayA-2 (West) — AP-68 — A-23 (North)/A-2 (East) — A-68 — A-23 (South) — A-2 (South)
Z-50Zaragoza Fifth BeltwayA-2 (East) — 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 (C-nnn) comprising the secondary network were transferred to the Autonomous Communities, splitting them up as necessary; while the national roads (N-nnn) 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 (orange, green or yellow). However, confusion sometimes arises due to the fact that most regional roads start with the letter A (for Andalucía), which is also used by the national government for highways.

The most notable Andalusian freeways are the A-92 or Washington Irving's route (with 400 km from Seville to Granada and Almería is the longest regional freeway in Spain), the A-316 & A-318 or Olive Tree's route (200 km from Estepa to Úbeda, still under construction) and the A-381 or Bull's route (90 km from Jerez de la Frontera to Algeciras)

SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
A-92InterurbanAutovía A-92
Washington Irving's route
SevilleGranadaAlmería
A-92CCity accessAutovía A-92CLa Roda de Andalucía(A-92 - SE-497)
A-92GCity accessAutovía A-92GSanta Fe (A-92) — Granada
A-92MInterurbanAutovía A-92MSalinas industrial development (A-92) — Pedrizas pass (A-45/AP-46)
A-92NInterurbanAutovía A-92NGuadix (A-92) — Vélez-Rubio (A-91)
A-306InterurbanAutovía A-306El Carpio (A-4) — * — Torredonjimeno (A-316)
A-308InterurbanAutovía A-308Iznalloz (A-44) — * — Darro (A-92)
A-316InterurbanAutovía A-316
Autovía del Olivar (east portion)
ÚbedaBaena — * — Jaén (A-44) — Martos — * — Lucena (A-45) — Estepa (A-92)
A-318InterurbanAutovía A-318
Autovía del Olivar (west portion)
A-334InterurbanAutovía del AlmanzoraPurchena — * — Fines — Albox — El Cucador — * — A-7
A-357InterurbanAutovía del GuadalhorceZalea — * — Casapalma — MA-40 — Málaga (A-7)
A-376InterurbanAutovía A-376Seville (SE-30) — Alcalá de Guadaira/Dos Hermanas — Utrera
A-381InterurbanAutovía A-381
Ruta del Toro (Bull's route)
Jerez de la Frontera (AP-4) — Los Barrios (A-7)
A-382InterurbanAutovía A-382Jerez de la Frontera (AP-4) — Arcos de la Frontera
A-383City accessAutovía del HiguerónA-7 — La Línea de la Concepción
A-395City accessRonda Sur de GranadaA-44 — Granada
A-480InterurbanAutovía A-480Sanlúcar de BarramedaJerez de la Frontera (A-4)
A-483InterurbanAutovía A-483Bollullos Par del Condado (A-49) — Almonte
A-497InterurbanAutovía A-497Huelva — Punta Umbría
A-8057UrbanVariante de MairenaSan Juan de Aznalfarache (A-8058) — Mairena
A-8058UrbanAutovía A-8058Seville (SE-30) — San Juan de Aznalfarache (A-8057)

*: 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
ARA-A1Partial beltwayQuinto cinturón de ZaragozaN-II/AP-2 — A-68
ARA-AP2InterurbanAutopista ARA-AP2[13]Cariñena (A-23) — † — A-2 — † — ARA-AP4 — † — Mallén (AP-68/N-232)
ARA-A3 / A-127InterurbanAutovía ARA-A3Gallur (AP-68/N-232) — † — Ejea de los Caballeros
ARA-AP4InterurbanAutopista ARA-AP4Tarazona (A-11) — † — ARA-AP2
A-131 / A-230InterurbanStill unnamed[14]Huesca — † — Huesca-Pirineos Airport — † — Sariñena — † — Bujaraloz (AP-2/N-II)
A-130InterurbanStill unnamedBarbastro (A-22) — † — Ontiñena — † — Caspe (AP-2/N-II)

*: 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
AS-IInterurbanAutovía mineraMieres (A-66) — A-64 — Gijón (A-8)
AS-IIInterurbanAutovía industrialOviedo — AS-III — Gijón
AS-III / AS-17InterurbanAutovía del AceroAvilés (A-8) — * — Llanera — AS-II — A-66
AS-117City 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 (Consell Insular). The prefix denotes the island, and the second letter (if any) is lowercase. Autopista identifiers are white on blue background, while twinned roads closer to the autovía category keep their identifiers.

SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
Ma-1InterurbanEje de PonientePalma port — Peguera
Ma-13InterurbanEje CentralPalma (Ma-20) — Sa Pobla
Ma-19InterurbanEje de LevantePalma — Llucmajor
Ma-20BeltwayVía 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 (National Road Network). 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 (A-8) 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 (Vizcaya-Bizkaia) or GI for Guipúzcoa-Gipuzkoa.

SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
AP-1InterurbanAutopista de Vitoria a Irún por EibarVitoria airport (N-622/N-624) — N-240 — Arrasate-Mondragón (GI-632) — Vergara-Bergara (GI-632, GI-627) — Eibar (joins AP-8 up to Irún)
A-8 / AP-8InterurbanAutopista del CantábricoCantabria/Basque Country border — Bilbao (AP-68) — Eibar (AP-1) — San Sebastián-Donostia (GI-20 West) — Hernani (GI-131) — Rentería-Errenteria (GI-20 East) — Irún — Spain/France border (A63)
BI-30Partial beltwayVariante Sur Metropolitana de BilbaoA-8 — * — BI-636 — * — AP-68 — * — A-8
BI-631InterurbanAutovía BI-631Bilbao — Mungía
BI-636InterurbanCorridor del CadaguaBilbao (A-8) — Gueñes
BI-637InterurbanAutovía BI-637Barakaldo (N-637) — Getxo
BI-644Access roadAutovía BI-644Santurtzi (A-8) — Bilbao port
GI-11City accessAutovía GI-11Lasarte-Oria (N-I) — GI-20
GI-20UrbanVariante de Donostia-San SebastiánAP-8 West — GI-11 — GI-21 — GI-636 — AP-8 East
GI-131InterurbanAutovía del UrumeaAndoain (N-I) — * — Urnieta — AP-8 — San Sebastián-Donostia
GI-632InterurbanAutovía GI-632Vergara-Bergara (AP-1) — * — Zumarraga — Beasain (N-I)
N-102City accessWestern access to Vitoria/GasteizN-I — Vitoria-Gasteiz
N-622InterurbanAutovía de AltubeVitoria-Gasteiz (N-I) — AP-1/N-624 — AP-68
N-624Access roadAccess to Vitoria AirportAP-1/N-622 — Vitoria Airport
N-637UrbanAsúa Valley corridorBarakaldo (A-8) — BI-637 — BI-634 — Galdakao (A-8)

*: 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 (cabildo insular). The prefix denotes the island, and identifiers are usually white on blue background.

SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
FV-2InterurbanAutovía FV-2Puerto del RosarioFuerteventura Airport, Barranco del Vachuelo — Marabu
GC-1Interurban & urbanAutopista GC-1Las Palmas de Gran Canaria — GC-2 — GC-3 — Telde — Gran Canaria Airport — Arinaga — Maspalomas — Puerto de Mogán
GC-2InterurbanAutopista GC-2Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (GC-1) — GC-20 — Bañaderos, Santa María de Guía — Gáldar
GC-3InterurbanAutopista GC-3GC-2 — Arucas (GC-20) — GC-23 — GC-31 — GC-4 — GC-1
GC-4InterurbanAutovía GC-4San Francisco de Paula (GC-3) — Monte Lentiscal
GC-23UrbanAutovía GC-23GC-2 — GC-3
GC-31City accessAutovía GC-31GC-3 — Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (GC-1)
LZ-3Ring roadCircunvalación de ArrecifeLZ-18 — LZ-1 — LZ-20 — LZ-2
TF-1InterurbanAutopista del SurSanta Cruz de Tenerife (TF-5) — TF-4 — TF-2 — Candelaria — Tenerife South Airport — Adeje
TF-2UrbanAutovía TF-2TF-5 — TF-1
TF-4City accessAutovía TF-4TF-1 — Santa Cruz de Tenerife
TF-5InterurbanAutopista del NorteSanta Cruz de Tenerife (TF-1) — TF-2 — San Cristóbal de la LagunaTenerife North Airport — Puerto de la Cruz
TF-11InterurbanAutovía TF-11Fishing docks — San Andrés

Castilla-La Mancha

Another community that has recently started building its own high capacity road network, Castilla-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
CM-40Partial beltwayRonda Suroeste de ToledoA-40 (West) — TO-21 — CM-42
CM-41InterurbanAutovía de La Sagra[15][16]Valmojado (A-5) — Illescas (A-42/AP-41) — * — Borox — * — Seseña (R-4/A-4)

Borox — * — Añover de Tajo

CM-42InterurbanAutovía de los ViñedosToledo (TO-20) — CM-40 — N-401 — Nambroca — Consuegra — Madridejos (A-4) — Alcázar de San Juan — Tomelloso (A-43)
CM-43InterurbanAutovía de la SolanaManzanares (A-4) — * — La Solana — † — Albacete (A-32)
CM-44InterurbanAutovía del JúcarCuenca (A-40) — † — Motilla del Palancar (A-3) — † — Albacete (A-32)
CM-45InterurbanAutovía IV Centenario[16][17]Ciudad Real (A-41) — * — Almagro — * — Valdepeñas (A-4) — † — Alcaraz (A-32)

*: 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
A-125InterurbanAutovía A-125La Bañeza (A-6) — * — Puebla de Sanabria (A-52) — † — Spain/Portugal border (N103)
A-231InterurbanAutovía del Camino de SantiagoBurgos (BU-30/A-62) — Osorno (A-67) — Sahagún — León (A-66)
A-510InterurbanAutovía A-510Salamanca (SA-20) — * — Alba de Tormes
A-601InterurbanAutovía de PinaresValladolid (VA-30) — CuéllarSegovia (N-110)
A-610InterurbanAutovía A-610Palencia (A-67) — Magaz de Pisuerga (A-62) — † — Aranda de Duero (A-1)
A-631InterurbanAutovía de La EspinaPonferrada (A-6) — * — Toreno — † — Villablino — † — Los Barrios de Luna (AP-66)
A-629InterurbanAutovía de Las MerindadesBurgos (A-73) - Viarcayo - Viasana de Mena - (Bi-636) - 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
C-14InterurbanAutovía C-14Reus (T-11) — Alcover
C-16[18][19]InterurbanEix del LlobregatBarcelona (Via Augusta/B-20) — Sant Cugat del Vallès (AP-7) — RubíTerrassaManresa (C-25) — Berga — Bellver de Cerdanya (N-1411) —†— Puigcerdà — † — France (N20)
C-17Urban & interurbanEix del CongostBarcelona (Meridiana Avenue/B-20) — C-33/C-58 — Montcada — C-33/C-59 — Montmeló (C-33/AP-7 North) — GranollersVic (C-25) — Manlleu (C-37) — Torelló — * — Ripoll
C-25InterurbanEix TransversalCervera (A-2) — Manresa (C-16) — Vic (C-17) — Vic(C-25) — AP-7/Girona AirportRiudellots de la Selva (A-2)
C-31InterurbanEix CostanerCastelldefels (C-32) — Barcelona AirportEl Prat de LlobregatL'Hospitalet de Llobregat (B-10) — Barcelona (Gran Vía de les Corts Catalanes)

Barcelona (Gran Vía de les Corts Catalanes) — B-10 — BadalonaMontgat (C-32),
Santa Cristina d'Aro (C-65) — Platja d'Aro — * — PalamósPalafrugell

C-31BInterurbanAutovía C-31BTarragonaSalou
C-31CCity accessAutovía C-31CSant Boi de Llobregat — El Prat de Llobregat (C-31)
C-31DCity accessAutopista C-31DC-32Mataró (Porta Laietana)
C-32InterurbanCorridor del MediterraniAutopista Pau Casals: El Vendrell (AP-7) — Calafell — CunitVilanova i la GeltrúSitges — Castelldefels (C-31) — B-22 — L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (B-10/B-20)

Autopista del Maresme: Montgat (C-31) — Mataró (C-31D/C-60) — Arenys de MarSant Pol de Mar — Palafolls — Tordera (N-II) — † — Lloret de Mar — † — Tossa de Mar

C-33InterurbanAccess to Barcelona from AP-7Barcelona (C-17/C-58) — Mollet del Vallés (C-17/C-59) — Montmeló (AP-7)
C-35InterurbanAutovía C-35Vidreres (AP-7/A-2) — Llagostera (C-65)
C-58InterurbanAutopista del VallèsBarcelona (B-10/B-20) — C-33 — Cerdanyola del Vallès — AP-7 — Sabadell AirportSabadell/Sant Quirze del VallèsTerrassa (Vallès Avenue) — C-16
C-60InterurbanAutovía C-60Mataró (C-32) — La Roca del Vallès (AP-7)
C-65InterurbanAutovia C-65Santa Cristina d'Aro (C-31) — Llagostera (C-35) — † — Girona (A-2)
C-66InterurbanAutovía C-66Sarrià de Ter (AP-7) — Banyoles (C-31) — † — Besalú (A-26)
C-68InterurbanAutovía C-68Figueres (AP-7) — * — 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 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) over the main mesa, combined with the mentioned demographics of the territory (Extremadura ranks the 5th community in Spain by land area, but only the 12th by population, and none of its cities reach 200,000 inhabitants) 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 (the national highway A-5 reaches Portugal through Badajoz in Extremadura), 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 (A-5 and A-66), 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 (and thus replacing them with the upgraded autovía), 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
EX-A1InterurbanAutovía EX-A1Navalmoral de la Mata (A-5) — Malpartida de PlasenciaPlasencia (A-66) — * — Coria — * — Moraleja — † — Spain/Portugal border (N103)
EX-A2InterurbanAutovía EX-A2Miajadas (A-5) — Don Benito (EX-A2-R1) — Villanueva de la Serena (EX-A2-R2)
EX-A3InterurbanAutovía EX-A3Zafra (A-66) — * — Jerez de los Caballeros
EX-A4InterurbanAutovía EX-A4Cáceres (A-66) — † — Badajoz (A-5)

*: 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 (for Autovía/Autoestrada galega) and are white on blue background.

SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
AG-11InterurbanAutovía del BarbanzaRianxo (AP-9) — Boiro — Ribeira
AG-41InterurbanAutovía del SalnésMeis (AP-9) — Sanxenxo — * — O Grove
AG-46InterurbanAutovía do MorrazoVilaboa (AP-9) — MoañaCangas do Morrazo (CG-4.1) — * — Aldán (PO-315)
AG-51Access roadAccess to PLISANA-52 — † — Salvaterra-As Neves Industrial and Logistic Platform (PLISAN, Plataforma Logístico-Industrial Salvaterra-As Neves)
AG-52InterurbanAutovía AG-52Tui (A-55) — † — Tomiño
AG-53InterurbanAutoestrada Central GalegaDozón (AP-53) — Cea — Maside (AG-54) — A-52
AG-54Access roadAccess to O CarballiñoMaside (AG-53) — O Carballiño
AG-55InterurbanAutoestrada da Costa da MorteA CoruñaArteixo (A-6) — Laracha — Carballo — † — Fisterra
AG-56InterurbanAutovía AG-56Santiago de Compostela (AP-9) — Brión — Gundín — * — Noia
AG-57InterurbanAutoestrada do Val MiñorVigo (VG-20) — AG-57N — Ramallosa — * — Baiona
AG-57NAccess roadAutopista AG-57NAG-57 — Nigrán
AG-58Access roadAutovía AG-58AG-59 — Cacheiras
AG-59Access roadAutovía AG-59Santiago de Compostela (AP-53) — AG-58 — Raris — * — Pontevea — * — A Estrada
AG-64InterurbanAutovía Ferrol - VilalbaFerrol — Rio do Pozo industrial development — NarónAs Pontes de García RodríguezVilalba (A-8)

*: 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 (CalahorraArnedo) 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
LR-111InterurbanAutovía LR-111Haro (AP-68) — † — Santo Domingo de la Calzada (A-12) — † — Ezcaray
LR-250Access roadAutovía LR-250Logroño (LO-20+A-12) — † — Villamediana de Iregua (AP-68)

*: 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 (traditionally more committed to the expansion of the Metro system) 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
M-45Partial beltwayAutopista M-45Madrid/Leganés (M-40) — R-5 — A-42/M-402 — A-4 — M-301 — M-31 — A-3 — R-3 — CosladaSan Fernando de Henares (M-206) — M-50
M-100InterurbanAutovía M-100[20]San Sebastián de los Reyes (A-1) — † — M-106/M-111 — † — Cobeña — † — Daganzo de Arriba — * — R-2 — A-2/M-203
M-203InterurbanAutopista eje EsteMejorada del Campo (R-3) — * — Soto de Aldovea — M-224 — A-2/M-100
M-206InterurbanAutovía M-206[20]Torrejón de Ardoz — * — Loeches
M-402UrbanAutovía M-402Madrid (Villaverde, A-42) — * — Leganés (ParqueSur mall) — † — Leganés (M-406)
M-404InterurbanAutovía M-404[21]Navalcarnero (A-5/M-600) — * — R-5 — * — El Álamo — * — Serranillos del Valle (AP-41) — * — Griñón (M-407) — * — Torrejón de la Calzada (A-42) — * — R-4 — * — Valdemoro (A-4) — * — Ciempozuelos
M-406Interurban & beltwayAutovía M-406Leganés (*M-402) — M-409 — M-407 — Alcorcón (A-5/M-40)
M-407InterurbanAutovía M-407[22][23]Leganés (M-406) — * — M-50 — * — Fuenlabrada (M-506) — M-410 — Griñón (M-404)
M-409InterurbanAutovía M-409Leganés (M-406) — M-50 — Fuenlabrada
M-423InterurbanAutovía M-423Pinto (M-506) — Valdemoro (M-404/R-4)
M-500InterurbanCarretera de CastillaMadrid (M-30) — M-503 — A-6
M-501InterurbanAutovía de los PantanosM-40/M-511 — Boadilla del Monte (M-50) — Villaviciosa de Odón (M-506) — Brunete (M-600) — Chapinería (M-510) — Navas del Rey
M-503InterurbanAutovía eje Noroeste[22]M-500 — * — Pozuelo de Alarcón — M-40 — M-50 — Villanueva del PardilloVillanueva de la Cañada (M-600)
M-506Interurban & urbanAutovía M-506Western stretch: Villaviciosa de Odón (M-501) — † — Alcorcón (M-50/A-5) — Móstoles (M-50) — M-407 — Fuenlabrada (M-405/M-413) — M-419

Eastern stretch: R-4 — Pinto (A-4) — M-423 — Warner Madrid Theme Park — † — San Martín de la Vega — † — Arganda del Rey (A-3/M-300)

M-509InterurbanAutovía M-509[20]M-50 — * — Villanueva del Pardillo
M-600InterurbanAutovía M-600[21]Villanueva de la Cañada (M-503) — † — Brunete (M-501) — † — Sevilla la Nueva — † — Navalcarnero (A-5/M-404)
M-607InterurbanAutovía de ColmenarMadrid (M-30) — M-40 — Alcobendas (M-616) — Tres CantosColmenar Viejo (M-609)
M-609InterurbanAutovía M-609[20]Colmenar Viejo (M-607) — * — 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 (A-91, A-7 and the tolled AP-7) and another three with the Valencian Community (A-7 and the tolled AP-7 and AP-37), 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 (for Región de Murcia).

SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
RM-1InterurbanAutovía RM-1San Javier (AP-7) — Zeneta (MU-30/RM-30/†AP-37)
RM-2InterurbanAutovía Alhama - Campo de CartagenaAlhama (A-7) — RM-23 — Fuente Álamo (MU-602) — Cartagena (A-30)
RM-3InterurbanAutovía RM-3Totana (A-7) — RM-23 — Mazarrón (AP-7)
RM-11InterurbanAutovía RM-11Lorca (A-7) — N-332 — Águilas (AP-7)
RM-12Access roadAutovía de La MangaCartagena (AP-7/CT-32) — El Algar (N-332) — La Manga del Mar Menor
RM-15InterurbanAutovía del NoroesteAlcantarilla (MU-30/A-7) — MulaCaravaca de la Cruz (C-415/RM-714)
RM-16Access roadAutovía RM-16A-30 — RM-17 — Región de Murcia International Airport
RM-17Access roadAutovía RM-17A-30 — RM-17
RM-19Access roadAutovía del Mar MenorA-30 — Polaris World — San Javier (AP-7)
RM-23InterurbanAutovía de conexión RM-23RM-2 — RM-3

*: in construction†: planned

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 (Autopista Vasco-Aragonesa), which was kept by the state to avoid a four-pronged management by the concessionaire and the Basque, Navarrese and Spanish governments.

SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
A-1InterurbanAutovía del NorteÁlava/Navarre border — ZiordiaAltsasu (A-10) — Navarre/Guipúzcoa limit
A-10InterurbanAutovía de la BarrancaIrurtzun (A-15/AP-15) — IrañetaLakuntzaArbizuEtxarri-Aranatz — Altsasu (A-1)
A-12InterurbanAutovía del Camino de SantiagoZizur Mayor (A-15) — Puente la ReinaEstella-LizarraLos ArcosLazagurríaViana — * — Navarre/La Rioja border (LO-20/A-12)
A-15InterurbanAutovía A-15Ronda de Pamplona Oeste (beltway): Noain (AP-15/A-21) — PA-30 — Pamplona-Iruña (PA-31) — Zizur Mayor (A-12) — Orkoyen — Berriozar (PA-34) — AP-15

Autovía de Leitzaran: Irurtzun (A-10/AP-15) — Lekunberri — Azpirotz — Areso — Navarre/Guipúzcoa border

AP-15InterurbanAutopista AP-15Southern stretch: AP-68 — A-68 — Castejón (N-113) — Tafalla (NA-132) — Pueyo — Baranoain/Garinoain — NA-601/N-121 — Noain (A-15/A-21)

Northern stretch: A-15 — PA-34 — Sarasate (N-240a) — Irurtzun (A-10/A-15)

A-21InterurbanAutovía del PirineoNoain (A-15/AP-15) — MonrealIbargoiti — * — Liédena — * — Yesa — * — Navarre/Huesca border
AP-68InterurbanAutopista del EbroZaragoza/Navarre border (N-232) — Cortes — Fontellas (NA-134) — Tudela (AP-68) — Liédena — AP-15/N-232
PA-30Partial beltwayRonda de PamplonaA-15 — Pamplona (PA-31) — Aranguren — PA-33 — Olaz — NA-150
PA-34Access roadWestern access to PamplonaAP-15 — Berriozar (A-15) — Pamplona-Iruña (N-240)

*: in construction†: planned

Valencian Community

The regional motorways do not have identifiers different from other 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 boundary with Catalonia and will be transferred to the national Government as a new stretch of the A-7 (Autovía del Mediterráneo). The same applies to the CV-40 highway.[citation needed]

SignalTypeDenominationItinerary
CV-10InterurbanAutovía de la PlanaNules (A-7/N-340) — Betxí — CV-20 — Castellón de la Plana (CV-17) — CV-16 — Borriol — La Pobla Tornesa — Cabanes — * — Vilanova d'Alcolea — † — La Jana — † — Castellón/Tarragona border
CV-18InterurbanAutovía CV-18Castellón de la Plana (CV-197) — † — Almassora — * — Burriana — † — Nules (N-340)
CV-30Partial beltwayRonda Nord de ValènciaV-30 — Paterna (CV-31) — Valencia (CV-35) — † — Alboraia — † — V-21
CV-31UrbanDistribuïdor NordPaterna (CV-30) — CV-365 — Burjassot (CV-35)
CV-32InterurbanEix de la GombaldaMassalfassar (V-21) — * — Massamagrell/Museros (CV-300) — † — A-7
CV-33InterurbanDistribuïdor SudTorrent (CV-366) — Albal
CV-35Urban & interurbanAutovía de AdemuzValencia (CV-30) — Burjassot (CV-61/CV-365) — A-7 — San Antonio de BenagéberLa Pobla de Vallbona — CV-50 — Llíria
CV-36IinterurbanAutovía de TorrentValencia (Camí Nou de Picanya) — Picanya (CV-366) — Torrent — Alaquàs — El Mas del Jutge — A-7
CV-40InterurbanAutovía CV-40Xàtiva (A-7) — OntinyentAlbaida — * — Cocentaina — * — Alcoi — * — A-7
CV-60InterurbanAutovía CV-60L'Olleria (CV-40) — † — Alfarrasí (N-340) — † — CV-610 — Gandia (CV-600)
CV-70InterurbanAutovía CV-70Alcoi (A-7) — † — Polop (N-340) — † — Benidorm (AP-7)
CV-80InterurbanAutovía CV-80Sax (A-31) — Castalla — A-7
CV-365UrbanNortheastern access to PaternaBurjassot (CV-35) — CV-31 — V-11/V-30
CV-500UrbanAutovía del SalerValencia (Alcalde Reig Street) — V-30 — El Saler
CV-864Partial beltwayRonda Sud de ElxEL-20 — † — CV-866

*: in construction†: planned

See also

References