The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) foresees a total of 391,000 trips on the roads of Cantabria during the Special Operation of Holy Week, which starts this Friday, April 11 with the beginning of the first phase and will extend until Monday, April 21.
During this first phase, which will take place between this Friday and Sunday 13, 112,000 vehicle movements are estimated in the Cantabrian road network, coinciding with the beginning of the holidays for many citizens. The second phase, of greater intensity by volume of traffic, will take place between Wednesday 16 and Monday 21 April, and will concentrate 223,000 displacements.
Traffic has activated a special device that will have up to 180 agents of the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard, the support of the Local Police of the different municipalities, as well as personnel of the Northwest-Cantabrian Traffic Management Center, and road maintenance teams and emergency services. All this, with the aim of guaranteeing road safety for all those who travel and, at the same time, facilitating mobility and fluidity on the roads
As usual, the DGT recalls the importance of respecting traffic rules, maintaining proper speed, always wearing a seatbelt, not using the mobile at the wheel and avoiding alcohol or drugs before driving. “The only safe rate is 0.0,” they emphasize from the agency. It is also recommended to check the condition of the vehicle before starting the trip.
The biggest peaks of traffic in this first phase are expected in the afternoon of Friday 11 - starting at 15.00 hours - and the morning of Saturday 12, especially in the A-8 (eastern area, bordering the Basque Country and direction Santander), as well as in the junction between the A-8 and the A-67, in the vicinity of Torrelavega. On Sunday the 13th, the afternoon and evening intense traffic is expected in the direction of Vizcaya, especially between 6.00 and 10.00 p.m., due to the return of the weekend.
In the second phase, traffic complications are expected during the afternoon of Wednesday 16 and throughout the day of Thursday 17, due to traffic entering Cantabria; as well as on Sunday 20, with intense circulation to the Plateau from the surroundings of Torrelavega, and on Monday 21, festive in the Basque Country, with traffic leaving to Vizcaya by the A-8.
At the national level, Traffic forecasts 15,840,000 road trips throughout the territory, which represents an increase of 2.47% compared to the real movements recorded during Holy Week last year.
During this holiday period, one of the most complex of the year due to the high volume of trips in a short space of time, Traffic insists on the need to be extremely careful, especially in the accesses to tourist, beach and mountain areas, where a high influx of vehicles is expected.
Reinforcement
The 5,600 agents of the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard that these days will work nationally on the road to make our movements safer, will especially intensify alcohol and drug controls, as well as speed controls on all types of roads with the aim of avoiding the repetition of the death figures of last Holy Week in which 27 people died in 24 traffic accidents.
They will also monitor the use of the seatbelt and CRS since 7 of the 11 deaths in tourism and van in 2024 were not wearing the belt at the time of the accident.