Ramon Lamiel: "There are kilometres of the AP-7 that have accumulated 800 hours of traffic jams"

BarcelonaRamon Lamiel, director of the Catalan Traffic Service, attends to the ARA after a few complicated days. A tragic Carnival weekend, with eight deaths on the roads, was followed by long delays on the AP-7, many of them involving trucks..

Are there too many trucks passing through Catalonia?

— Of the 20 roads with the highest traffic of heavy vehicles in the whole of Spain, 19 are in Catalonia. And nine are sections of the AP-7. With the abolition of tolls, the entire Mediterranean axis is very accessible and the AP-7 runs through the country's industrial estates. We must try to regulate these flows. And what we should do is return to the stability we had last year: there were only six fatalities on the AP-7. This year we have had four.

Two were due to being run over.

— Some accidents that have occurred lead us to believe that these drivers do not know the road well, which is what happened when tolls were removed. There is a shortage of professional drivers and many come with a license from abroad. Here, practical training is planned for these drivers. It is also a confirmation that the vehicle fleet is very old, also in heavy vehicles.

And the withholdings?

— What we have seen so far in 2025 is not significant, but it is a wake-up call. In 2024, the traffic jams had also been contained. We must ensure that this happens this year. On weekends there was a type of congestion that we already had under control, which is the one on the way out and back. That is why we already have a whole system of additional lanes. We have also improved a lot with speed reductions.

And during the week?

— When there are no accidents, there are no problems from Martorell to the Ebro or from Granollers to Girona. The problem is concentrated in the central section. And it is concentrated in us because the road does not connect well with the rest of the roads. You cannot divert traffic easily.

Are there plans to improve these links with other routes?

— We have always said, and the headlines are also very clear, that they are a priority. On weekdays, in the centre, in the Mollet area, this motorway is left with two lanes. There is a bottleneck that must be resolved. There are projects and we would also be imprudent in setting dates because we do not know them. Throughout the year there are kilometres there that accumulate 800 hours of congestion. If the year has 365 days, there are kilometres that can remain congested for three hours each day.

Would you like the Generalitat to own the AP-7?

— Well, I don't know. You caught me off guard, it hasn't been discussed. We are with the 150 kilometers of variable speed that the councilor has announced.What does it solve for you? You can arrive later to that traffic jam, and you also give the traffic jam more time to clear up.

We've had a lot of traffic jams due to truck accidents lately.

— There is an elephant in the room and we will not avoid it after what happened in the Ebro on February 7. We put in place a triple mechanism, with more information, and it has worked. We did it on Monday when two trucks were burned due to a breakdown, with the Mossos diverting towards the A-32 in El Vendrell. And on Tuesday we did the same. When the pig truck crashed south in Vilafranca, we sent out a tweet saying it would take 10 hours. There were 110 dead animals and 110 live animals. We said: don't let them enter the motorway, and it worked like clockwork. In other words, we have learned. One more point we must resolve is to see if we are capable of predicting the accident. We are working with artificial intelligence.

Is there a problem with tow trucks removing wrecked cars?

— There was some confusion here. It is our responsibility to remove them. We do it and we do it. We do not expect anyone to call their insurance company. And there are not that many heavy cranes. It is true that we are working on the tender to reinforce it. But in no case has it been a problem with cranes.

Should tolls be returned?

— As a traffic authority, we do not have the competence. All European authorities say that tolls are an element. But not the toll itself, but rather that it can harm the imbalance of tolls.

And what is the alternative?

— When the AP-7 was opened, we asked to reduce the speed to 110 km per hour. The DGT told us no. Now we are moving towards a variable speed system. What may return to the secondary network are the vehicles and, therefore, we must ensure the safety of this secondary network.

The Carnival weekend was tragic, with eight fatalities. How many are linked to alcohol?

— I cannot say because they are still being investigated. In the accident on the C-25, in which two young people and their daughter died [in a head-on collision with a drunk driver who was driving in the wrong direction], the presence of alcohol is obvious. The accident on the C-58 is being investigated in depth. There was first a run-over and then a brutal crash. The vehicle did not stop on the right, as has been described in many media, but on the left, with fatality after fatality. This does not mean that young people caused these accidents, young people have suffered them. 40% of the deceased have consumed alcohol, drugs or psychotropic drugs. We will now publish a study with 12,500 alcohol tests on drivers.

However, the most frequent fatal accident is that of a middle-aged man.

— Last year's survey showed that the age group between 55 and 65 was the one with the highest number of fatal accidents. It is still too early to say whether this has changed, but we were surprised by the increase in the age group of 35 and under. We must give a warning.

In any case, mortality rates have decreased.

— Yes, they have been reduced. Last year we ended with a very significant reduction in accidents, 22% compared to 2019, but there are 136 fatalities, which is a huge number. The measures seemed to be working. And, unfortunately, at the beginning of this year we are not following the same trend, but the opposite.

Are the penalties too low?

— The aim is not to get more money from fines. According to an independent study, it seems that the system we have works. We evaluate the radars. When you install one, you have to evaluate in five years how much the accidents have decreased. If you have managed to reduce it by 33%, then the radar works. And if not, then we leave the box and move the antenna.

A month ago, reports emerged, denied by the ministry, that pointed to his replacement.

— I have nothing more to say. The ministry has issued a categorical denial. There is no news.