transport

The AP-7 highway has been blocked affecting those trying to cross, especially truck drivers

The actor hailed the public transport system as something the rest of the world should use

Only 33% of people in Catalan capital see cars as good option for getting around, while 90% say fewer cars would improve quality of life

See all details of closed roads and public transport options for September 11 here

Catalan capital is biggest European cruise destination and fourth globally

Between motorbike rental, car rental, and short-term cycling, Barcelona has plenty of great urban mobility options

The company carrying out the tests hope to present results by the end of the month

Asbestos found in trains leads to workers calling for better conditions

Territory minister warns that not raising ticket prices means government will have €25m less for improvements

Internationalized railway network will connect Castellò with Tarragaona by 2020, according to Spanish infrastructure secretary

More people “determined to leave the car at home” says Secretary for Infrastructure and Mobility

Taxis in Barcelona are on strike to protest online platforms such as Uber or Cabify, which they consider to be unfair competition. Commuters and tourists at Sants, Barcelona’s main train station, or El Prat, the city airport, had to face long queues to take the bus or alternative transport methods because the taxi stands were completely empty. The strike, which started at 6am on Tuesday, will last for 24 hours. Up to 20,000 taxi drivers are expected to take to the streets in a big rally in Madrid, with more than 2,500 drivers from the Barcelona’s Metropolitan also attending. Taxi driver unions are threatening with more mobilizations on the 29th of June and are weighing the possibility of an indefinite strike starting on July 31st, just at the peak of the holiday period. They think their demands are being ignored by the government and that online platforms such as Uber are “destroying” their business.

Barcelona’s El Prat Airport registered 32.2 million international passengers last year, more than huge airports like JFK in New York or Narita in Tokyo. Barcelona has the 17th most transited airport in the world, according to the Airports Council International (ACI). There was an 11% growth in passengers traveling outside Spain from Barcelona over last year. Madrid-Barajas is still the main Spanish airport, with 36.1 million passengers, but El Prat is growing much faster. Those good results last year are not enough. Barcelona is looking to take a huge intercontinental leap forward in 2017. After hitting a record in 2016, the facility is now ranked seventh among European airports. The launch of the new long-haul operating hubs of Norwegian and Level are bringing it closer to becoming an international hub for a combination of European low-cost airlines and foreign companies.

The increasing number of licenses for “rental cars with chauffeur” caused strikes and demonstrations by hundreds of officially-licensed taxi drivers in several Catalan cities on Wednesday. According to representatives of the taxi transport sector, these licenses, also known as VTC, open a legal loophole for the unregulated activity of transport services through mobile apps like Uber or Cabify. In Barcelona almost a thousand taxi drivers marched through the city center to the Delegation of the Spanish Government, blocking traffic in the very heart of the Catalan capital, to demand a solution for the sector. Representatives of several taxi driver unions met with the Deputy Representative of the Spanish Government in Catalonia, Emilio Ablanedo, and asked him to communicate their demand for regulation of new mobile platforms to the Spanish Ministry of Public Works.

The Barcelona Metro is on strike today, Monday, which means that service is reduced to a minimum between 7 and 9 am, 4 and 6 pm, and from 8:30 to 10:30 pm. The Barcelona Metro strike began this morning after the negotiation of the collective bargaining agreement between the unions and the Metro board. The first visible signs of the conflict were the crowds on the metro platforms and in the metro trains, which increased from 7 o’clock on. The strike had previously been announced and the passengers who had heard about it had advanced their travel schedule to prevent delays.