Three trucks moving forward every minute: the new "toll" of driving on the AP-7

Martorell / La Jonquera / VillageDriving at around 110 kilometers per hour on the AP-7, near L'Ampolla (Baix Ebre), you have to suddenly reduce your speed because a truck signals to overtake two other vehicles. The braking to avoid hitting its license plate isn't abrupt, but it is forceful. And the wait is long. You have to slow down to about 90 km/h, the speed at which the trucker is trying to overtake two more trucks that aren't much slower than him. Suddenly, the first truck signals and asks to merge into the left lane as well, forcing the car to brake. But not for long, because behind the second truck, another one is also moving in the left lane. The reason: road maintenance work has left only one lane open. It's the so-called "truck sandwich," very common on the AP-7. Nothing extraordinary for regular drivers, but a stark reminder of the reality on Catalonia's main highway.

From Barcelona to the Ebro Delta, there are about 180 kilometers, covered by three lanes as far as Tarragona and then two. It's a Friday, a weekday, with some rain. However, in reality, one lane is always available for cars because the right lane is permanently occupied by trucks. And there are quite a few of them: from Barcelona to the Ebro, the ARA (Association of Road Traffic Officers) has counted about 380. In other words, three trucks overtaken every minute. Every day, around 20,000 heavy vehicles travel on the AP-7, a state-owned highway, although this varies depending on the section. Of the 20 roads with the highest heavy vehicle traffic in the entire country, 19 are in Catalonia, and nine of those are sections of the AP-7.

Every day, many people and many things happen on this road, including three daily accidents with injuries (mostly minor) and four accidents involving trucks, including scratches and minor collisions. Between 2019 and 2024, after the elimination of tolls on the road, accident victims on the AP-7 increased by 25%. This year, fifteen people have lost their lives on this highway, the same number as in 2023, while last year there were five.So far this year, there have been 1,036 accidents with victims on the AP-7.

This week alone, there was a truck accident on Saturday and another on Tuesday.In this case, with a dead truck driver– in L'Aldea (Baix Ebre) they caused hours and hours of traffic jams. According to data obtained by ARA, traffic jams on the AP-7 increased by 30% from 2023 to 2024. In 2025, we have already lost 7,600 hours behind the wheel, and 2024 ended with 8,900. The Ebro area has a problem: the lanes are reduced to just two, and any incident, however absurd –like a broken-down vehicle, which is frequent—, causes disruptions.

All sources consulted place a before and after the elimination of tolls in 2021. Since then, road traffic has increased considerably, especially truck traffic. There is approximately 60% more in Martorell, 25% more on the Ebro, and 40% more in La Jonquera and La Roca del Vallès. But there is also a positive side: the AP-7 is a safer road because head-on collisions, the most lethal of all, have been eliminated, and consequently, serious accidents have been reduced on other secondary roads, such as the N-II and the N-340.

However, the Catalan Traffic Service (Servei Català de Trànsit) insists that the connection between the AP-7 and other roads must be improved. In fact, the most problematic points are usually in Martorell, where it connects with the A-2; in Parets del Vallès, with the C-33; and in the Mollet del Vallès area, on the C-58. This last point in the Vallès region also has the longest traffic jams, with up to 9,550 hours in the last three years. Another measure is to reduce the speed limit, and the Traffic Service is already negotiating. Specifically, a reduction to 100 km/h on the southern section of the AP-7 and 80 km/h for trucks. However, the high volume of traffic is present along the entire AP-7. Trucks already represent 34% of the vehicles on the Ebro section, 32% in La Jonquera, and 20% on the central section.

The border with France

The density of trucks is only noticeable when crossing the border from France and entering Catalonia. Although the peak time is in summer, even on a Friday in autumn, trucks with markings from all over Spain and Europe are lined up in the right lane. Truck drivers also complain that when they do long hauls and have to sleep in rest areas, they are often uneasy: "I never sleep in an unguarded area, because all the packages we carry are very tempting for thieves," says José, a truck driver from Murcia, at one of the busiest rest stops in the area. In fact, highway robberies have also grown exponentially in recent years.

The Llers service area is a direct witness to the increase in truck traffic in recent years. In just a few years, the number of gas stations has grown from one to five, a result of increased demand. "There's almost always some kind of accident nearby, however minor," says the attendant. Both the Barcelona Gate and Baix Ebre gas stations have also seen an increase in customers, but they also lament that many trucks drive "like maniacs" through the service area. The fact that there are more people always has its pros and cons, and one criticism they level at the residents of L'Ampolla is that when there are traffic jams, access to the town also gets blocked. And on the Costa Brava, some municipal police close roads to prevent cars stopped on the highway from looking for shortcuts.

The alternatives

Truck drivers using this expressway to travel along the Mediterranean coast from Almería to the border both cause and suffer from the congestion. "There's no alternative to the AP-7 in many sections," especially for those crossing the Ebro River where the road narrows from three to two lanes, complains Josep Lluís Aymat, director of the Tarragona Provincial Federation of Road Transport Companies (Feat). He also points to the proliferation of roundabouts on the N-340, which runs parallel to the highway, and the ban on heavy goods vehicles as a "disgrace." "The N-340 isn't a national highway but a local one, and in many sections even the Ministry doesn't know where it goes because it gets lost among the housing developments. So, where are the trucks supposed to go?" he wonders.

Roger Saborit is a regular truck driver on the AP-7 motorway in the northern section. He usually makes the round trip to Toulouse and often goes down to Tarragona as well. "There are a lot of trucks, and at certain times, the presence of family cars and passenger vehicles isn't well separated. On long weekends or during holiday return periods, they should redirect them to the N-II, which is very underutilized," he explains. From Girona to Perthus, the N-II section is practically parallel, and the travel time for a car is almost the same. But this road is used only by locals, who know each other and don't use the AP-7 for short trips. The same thing happens on the Ebro River: residents of L'Aldea explain that they almost never use the AP-7 because of the number of trucks; they prefer secondary roads. The debate about whether or not to reinstate tolls is recurring, especially on days when traffic is congested or when, as on Monday, there are serious accidents involving trucks. Aymat argues that the barriers are not a deterrent for long-distance or international haulers because they have no other route with optimal conditions that would allow them to travel so quickly. He maintains that if tolls were reinstated, few vehicles would be lost. However, engineer Francesc Soriguer notes the direct correlation between the elimination of tolls in September 2021 and the fact that highways reach their maximum capacity. This professor of Traffic Engineering at the Barcelona School of Civil Engineering (ETSETB) of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) questions the political decision to eliminate state tolls, arguing that it makes Spain a European exception and allows free rein for foreign transport companies that have a completely free highway.

The issue of tolls

According to the professor, infrastructure should be managed with "tariffing," that is, by implementing some type of toll, which should not be like the "20th-century" fixed-price tolls, but rather based on the type of vehicle, the time of day, the frequency of use, or the type of trip. He also advocates for restrictions on trucks, or requiring them to travel at night. In fact, the European Union has repeatedly urged Spain to rethink its current model to increase investment by improving mobility. "High-capacity infrastructure must have a user fee," he insists.

The Spanish and Catalan governments are confident that the full implementation of the Mediterranean freight corridor will alleviate traffic on the highways. Today, only 4% of goods transported throughout Spain are moved by rail, but the Madrid-Valencia rail motorwayThe line, opened in the middle of last year, already handles 20% of freight.

The Spanish government's commissioner for the Mediterranean Corridor is Josep Vicent Boira, who points out that, if the schedule is met, "between 2026 and 2027" will see the opening of "elements that will allow a transfer of freight" from road to rail: the Llagosta terminal, the connection between [unclear] and Castellón, or the [unclear]. bypass From Almussafes. "It's the beginning of helping to decongest the AP-7," he states. Soriguera questions whether the train is the best alternative for economic reasons, indicating that road travel is cheaper. However, Boira emphasizes the measures being approved to incentivize truckers to switch to rail.