Spain: EIB and Unicaja finance Málaga-Las Pedrizas motorway

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a EUR 50 million intermediated loan to Unicaja to finance the construction and operation of the Málaga-Las Pedrizas AP-46 motorway.

Signed by EIB Vice-President Magdalena Álvarez and Unicaja’s Chairman, Braulio Medel, this operation represents major support by the two institutions for important infrastructure that will improve traffic flows and safety in an area with growing traffic volumes. As the main road link between central Spain and the Costa del Sol, the project forms part of the trans-European transport networks (TEN-T).

The project consists of the design, construction, financing and operation of a 24.5 km section of the AP-46 motorway between Málaga and Las Pedrizas, plus the construction of around 5 km of link roads.

Its purpose is to increase the motorway’s capacity, helping to absorb the traffic volumes and reduce congestion along this corridor, especially during the summer months. The new infrastructure will also serve to improve traffic flows and safety.

The motorway will provide an alternative to the A-45, currently the main access route from the north to Málaga and its environs. It will begin at the A-45 and pass through the municipalities of Antequera, Casabermeja, Almogía and Málaga for 24.5 kilometres (plus 5 km of links) in a north-south direction from Alto de las Pedrizas (Villanueva de Cauche) to Puerto de la Torre (northwest of Málaga), where it will join the future Málaga west bypass and form a continuation of the “motorway of the sun”, reducing congestion and increasing the safety of traffic travelling from central Spain to the western Costa del Sol.

At the same time, the signing of this new contract between Unicaja and the EIB will strengthen the two institutions’ existing relations.

Background information:

The European Investment Bank is the long-term financing arm of the European Union working to further European objectives. Founded in 1958, it finances projects in the 27 EU Member States and more than 130 other countries worldwide in line with EU policies. Given their key role in fostering the EU’s economic and social integration, the free movement of people and goods, and the development of the Union’s less advanced regions, financing the trans-European networks (TENs) is one of the Bank’s top priorities.