The weekend of August 15 is one of the busiest for road traffic throughout the year. Thousands of drivers hit the road coinciding with the change of the festive fortnight and the countless patron saint festivals celebrated throughout Spain. Added to this are the typical weekend movements with short trips to second homes or visits to family and friends. The Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) forecasts that during this phase of the Special Summer Operation, between 3:00 p.m. on Friday the 14th and midnight on Sunday the 16th, 5.6 million road trips will be made. Many of these will take place on secondary roads — a single lane in each direction — and during the early hours, with the consequent risk for users of these routes.
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This surveillance operation is launched after one of the worst weekends of the year was recorded last weekend, with 16 fatal accidents in which 19 people lost their lives. Six of the deceased were vulnerable users (four motorcyclists and two cyclists). A total of 13 occurred on conventional roads and three on highways or expressways. There were seven collisions, six run-offs, and two pedestrian accidents. The incidents took place in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Álava), Benissa (Alicante), Fonollosa (Barcelona), Las Pedroñeras (Cuenca), Jete (Granada), Málaga and Pizarra (Málaga), Murcia (Region of Murcia), Cangas del Narcea (Asturias), Haría (Las Palmas), Aldeanueva de la Sierra (Salamanca), San Cristóbal de Cuéllar (Segovia), Utrera (Seville), Garray (Soria) and Bétera and Riba-roja de Túria (Valencia).
The DGT has asked all drivers to take extreme safety measures and, especially, not to drive after consuming alcohol or drugs. It has also emphasized that, even though many trips are short and during the day or night, seat belts and helmets should be used, speed limits and road signs respected.
The Traffic Group of the Civil Guard plans to intensify speed, alcohol, and drug controls during these days.
Traffic has established traffic regulation, management, and surveillance measures involving Civil Guard agents, officials from the eight traffic management centers, maintenance staff, and personnel responsible for installing road measures, along with emergency service members.
It is also planned to install reversible and additional lanes with cones during peak traffic hours and establish alternative routes. Roadworks will be halted, sporting events and other activities that occupy the roadway will be limited. Finally, the circulation of vehicles transporting hazardous goods, special transports, and general freight truck traffic will be restricted on certain road sections, dates, and times.
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The established operation can be consulted on the DGT website.
Avoid certain times
To avoid the usual traffic jams that occur on such marked dates as this weekend, Traffic has forecasted when the biggest problems on the roads will occur. Friday afternoon will be complicated between 4:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., especially at the exits of large urban centers and on the entry roads to tourist coastal areas, second homes, and towns with festivals.
The early hours of Saturday the 15th will feature the same problems as Friday afternoon, plus movements through coastal towns, access roads to the coast and second home areas, as well as short trips to beaches and for the festivities of the Virgin of August.
On Sunday the 16th, problems are expected both in the morning, due to short trips in coastal towns and access to beaches, and in the afternoon, due to the return operation to large cities. Specifically, between 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. It will be from tourist coastal, rest, and second home areas towards the access points of large urban centers.
Traffic has recommended, as usual, planning the trip in advance via the best route and avoiding, as much as possible, the most problematic hours. The traffic status and any incidents can be checked in real time on the X account @DGTes, in radio and television news bulletins, as well as by calling 011.
The Directorate General of Traffic has the phone 018 to assist victims of road accidents. It offers information, guidance, and support to victims and their families. It is free, accessible, nationwide, and staffed in more than 50 languages. It operates from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. every day of the week. It can also be contacted via WhatsApp at 645 713 823, by email at victimastrafico@dgt.es, or on the DGT website.
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