'Holidays are mandatory' - Catalans ready to jet off for Easter break

"Easter and August, holidays are mandatory," Dolors told Catalan News, ahead of her flight to London with her daughter. 

She told the Catalan News Agency that he was looking forward to “taking a mini vacation that’s great for disconnecting” from day-to-day life.

She's one of the many people travelling through Barcelona airport on the Thursday before Easter, always one of the busiest days of the year at the facility, marking the start of the tourist season.

During the whole Easter holiday period, there are 10,902 flights scheduled, an increase of 11.2% compared to last year, which fell at the end of March.

Holy Thursday is one of the busiest days with more than 1,000 flights land into or taking off from Barcelona.

Enthusiastic holidaymakers have been arriving at Barcelona airport since early in the morning, eager to take their first trips of the year.

"They are mini-vacations that are great for disconnecting," said one passenger on her way to London.

The most popular destinations among Catalans are the Balearic Islands or the Canary Islands, especially Tenerife, and European cities such as Paris, Milan, or London.

Among the travelers who passed through Barcelona airport on Thursday were families taking advantage of the school holidays to go to destinations such as Disneyland Paris.

There were also those who opted to take advantage of the good weather and choose warmer destinations, such as Cadiz or Formentera, although they carried an umbrella in their suitcase.

“The queues look long at the moment, and we’ll be waiting a few minutes in security, but well, nothing out of the ordinary,"  said Alícia, on her way to Cadiz. "If on a day like today there weren’t masses of people in the airport, we’d have a problem," she laughed.

Although most travelers visiting places for the first time, there are also some who are returning to destinations. “We haven’t visited Amsterdam in many years, it must have been twenty years and it’s great to be back,” said Pere, who is traveling with his family.

Thousands of cars leave Barcelona

Nearly 258,000 vehicles left the metropolitan area of ​​Barcelona between 8 am and 6 pm this Thursday.

This figure represents 46% of the 560,000 that are expected to travel by 3 pm tomorrow.

Anticipating possible traffic complications, authorities have enabled two additional lanes on the AP-7 highway.

In the additional motorway lanes, the maximum speed is 100km/h in both directions. For trucks, which must circulate on the right, the limit is 80km/h.

The Catalan police have deployed 1,670 officers who will carry out 1,228 checks until next Monday.