Globalvia has decided to take legal actions to get a compensation for the Sóller Tunnel concession cancellation.

The Council of Majorca, the project grantor, approved in August a plan to terminate the concession and take back the asset so that users won’t have to pay tolls in the future. It aimed to end the concession on on 1 September 2017, five years ahead of the concession’s expiration in 2022.

Globalvia demanded €31 million (US$37 million) from the Council by way of compensation for the early termination of the contract. 

The Council has offered €17.4 million in compensation to the company for terminating the concession. However, Globalvia will take the matter to court in defense of its interests and against the proposal from the Council. 

Globalvia, which owns 98% of the concession, was awarded the contract for the 3.1km tunnel in 1989. The asset, which has been in operation since 1997, is located north of the island capital, Palma de Mallorca, on the Palma- Sóller corridor.

The tunnel is the most expensive toll in Spain in relation to its length. The residents in the Soller Valley are already fully subsidized. 

Globalvia was born in 2007 from the union of interests in infrastructure sector of FCC and Bankia. Since March 2016, pension funds OPTrust (Canada), PGGM (Netherlands) and USS (UK) are the owners of 100% of the shares of the company.