Simon Hunter
SPAIN’S DGT traffic department is predicting 18.2 million car journeys during the Christmas season this year, with ‘Operación Salida’, as the start of the rush is known, beginning at 3pm on Friday December 23.
Traffic authorities will be stepping up their activities during this particularly busy time of the year, with the peak activity expected around Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, New Year’s and Kings Day on January 6. The special operation will end on Sunday January 8.
Residents of Spain will be taking to the roads to visit family, travel to second residences, practice winter sports, or enjoy winter tourist attractions.
In order to keep the traffic moving and keep motorists safe, the Civil Guard will be deploying 13 helicopters, 39 drones, 245 cameras and 15 unmarked vans. They will be monitoring for speeding infractions, as well as anyone driving while using their cellphone or not wearing their seatbelt.
There will also be an increased number of breathalyser tests to ensure that drivers have not been drinking.
To get their message across, this year the DGT are running a hard-hitting campaign called ‘The Album’.
In it, they have recreated what the family photos of a man named Martín, who had four children, would have looked like had he not died in a traffic accident in the 1980s.
Read more:
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