Spain’s Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT) kicked off its annual summer-mobility campaign on 30 June, forecasting a record 104 million long-distance car journeys between 1 July and 31 August — up 3.7 % on last year. The plan bundles four special traffic operations with two international flows critical for mobility managers: the ‘Operación Paso del Estrecho’ (OPE), which channels 3.5 million passengers driving from northern Europe through Spain to Morocco, and ‘Paso de Portugal’, focused on cross-border holiday traffic with Portugal. Dedicated rest areas, information points and 2,400 variable-message signs will guide foreign-plated vehicles unfamiliar with Spanish routes. A new requirement this year obliges all vehicles to carry the V-16 emergency beacon instead of reflective triangles, and a victims’ helpline (018) will operate in multiple languages. For corporate fleets and assignees driving company cars into Spain, HR teams should update vehicle kits and driver briefings immediately. The DGT is also preparing an ad-hoc mobility plan for the total solar eclipse on 12 August, which is expected to attract large numbers of international visitors to northern Spain. Authorities warned of possible congestion on the A-8, AP-8 and N-634 corridors and recommend early hotel bookings for field-engineer or project teams planning site visits along the path of totality. Companies moving goods by road face tighter speed and alcohol-control campaigns on peak weekends; logistics managers should build extra transit time into delivery schedules to avoid breach of driver-hours regulations amid police checkpoints.
Source: Ministry of the Interior
