Excuse me using a Catalan title in Castellano week but it felt important to write about the May Day protest at the highway toll booths yesterday.
The campaign is called Novullpagar and means I don’t want to pay.

What’s it about?  Why are Catalan people so angry about paying charges on the motorways?

The highways are owned by the central government in Madrid but are managed by private companies.  You would think that the rules would be the same all over Spain but this is not the case. Travel out of Catalunya and you can drive along wonderful stretches of well maintained motorways. You can zoom along for free,
We noticed this on the way to Almeria recently.
But in Catalunya, there are toll booths and you have to pay.
Around Madrid the vast majority of the motorways are free.
Around Barcelona and Valancia – you pay through the nose.
And now….the central government in Madrid has decided to make ALL the roads around Madrid free.
At the same time they have given the highway companies more powers to charge in Catalunya.
So wouldn’t you feel aggrieved?
Imagine if David Cameron decided to charge on all the motorways in Scotland and Wales but to keep the ones in England free!
May Day was the biggest protest of not paying. They allowed the cars through in the end but took their registration numbers. 
We will see what happens next.