road transport

Poor road conditions and a high rate of traffic accidents have led the Catalan Government to approve a strict circulation restriction for four axle lorries throughout 90 kilometers (56 miles) of the N-II, a road linking Madrid with Barcelona and the French border, which has only one lane per direction. Although the measure is of temporary character, it has outraged roadside shopkeepers and lorry drivers, but neighbors from towns close to the highly-frequented road totally support it. According to the Catalan Ministry for Public Works, now is the moment for the widening project of the road drawn up by the Spanish Government in 1995 to be restarted after years of delay due to a lack of funding in order to improve road conditions for the main entrance road to Spain from France.

During the last few winters, snow and ice have paralysed Central Europe for days and sometimes weeks. Lorries from all over Europe transport up to 60,000 tons of salt a month from Súria (Bages County) to spread on roads throughout the continent. The mines have tripled production in the last 2 years and are the largest of Southern Europe.

The highway management company Acesa has already begun construction works on highway rest stops in Montseny and next to Barcelona. The new services for lorries and their drivers will have a fee of 10 to 20 euros. They include 24h surveillance, showers, laundry, resting facilities and entertainment zones.

This summer, cameras and patrolling guards will be emplaced in rest areas of the Barcelona metropolitan region?s highways to prevent robberies.