The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) activates tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. the Special Operation Semana Santa 2023 to ensure compliance with the rules of circulation - speed, alcohol, mobile use and belt - on the roads of Andalusia, where 3.3 million long-distance journeys are planned.
The delegate of the Government of Spain in Andalusia, Pedro Fernández, has asked the drivers “absolute caution and respect for the rules of circulation so that we can close the operation with zero deaths and thus be able to enjoy the holidays and return home”.
This device, which pays special attention to conventional roads, attends to the important exodus of vehicles that occurs during Holy Week from urban centers to towns with traditional religious events or second residences and tourist areas of mountains and coast, encouraged by the festivities of these dates, school and university holidays, and the beginning of spring.
To give the best coverage, the DGT activates a series of traffic regulation, management and surveillance measures that will be divided into two stages, one from 15:00 a.m. tomorrow, Friday, March 31, Friday of Sorrows, until Sunday, April 2, Palm Sunday. In this first phase, 930,600 displacements are planned. The second stage will extend from the afternoon of Wednesday, April 6, Holy Wednesday, until the return on Monday, April 10, Easter Monday, when it is estimated that there will be 1,974,000 displacements.
Agents of the Traffic Grouping of the Civil Guard, official personnel of the Traffic Management Centers, helicopter patrols and personnel in charge of the maintenance of equipment and the installation of road measures will remain active 24 hours throughout the period of the device, with a view to facilitating mobility and fluidity to the roads in which mass movements of vehicles are planned and ensuring their Road Safety.
From the Traffic Management Centers based in Malaga and Seville, in service 24 hours a day, a special service will be given before, during and after the special operation thanks to the work of more than 60 officials and specialized technical staff, who attend the tasks of supervision, regulation and information.
To these are added the two headquarters of aerial media (helicopters and drones) that cover the main itineraries used by vehicles throughout Andalusia and that will focus on those points where incidents can predictably occur. In flight, the state of circulation is reported to the Traffic Management Centers and the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard.
For its part, the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard will carry out the usual services of help, assistance and traffic surveillance throughout the interurban network of roads in the Autonomous Community, paying special attention to those that predictably support the greatest number of displacements.
It is expected that in this special operation the roads that will support the greatest number of trips will be the A-357, A-4, A-44, A-45, A-49, A-66, A-7, A-92, A-92M, AP-4, AP-7, MA-20, N-4 and the secondary network for access to tourist rest areas and those of second residence.