As usual, the operation is being carried out in three phases to coincide with the main public holidays (Christmas, New Year and Epiphany), which this year coincide with weekends.
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Special traffic plan
On Friday 22nd, at 15:00 hours, the special operation that the Directorate General of Traffic is putting in place to cover the 19.7 million road journeys planned for the Christmas holidays will begin and will end on Sunday 7th January 2024.
As usual, different phases have been established to coincide with the main Christmas festivities, which this year also take place over the weekend.
1st phase, Christmas: Friday 22nd to Monday 25th December. During this first period, 4.8 million journeys are expected.
2nd phase, New Year’s Eve: Friday 29 December to Monday 1 January.
3rd phase, Epiphany: Friday 5 to Sunday 7 January, when the special Christmas arrangements will come to an end.
Many of the journeys, both long and short distance, especially at weekends and on public holidays, will be to second homes, mountain areas for winter sports, winter and Christmas tourist attractions and shopping areas.
Planned travel at Christmas
Technical and human resources
To cover all these journeys, the DGT has prepared a special operation that includes regulation, organisation and surveillance measures to guarantee mobility and fluidity on the roads and, at the same time, ensure road safety.
To this end, the DGT has the maximum availability of its human resources (Agents of the Traffic Grouping of the Guardia Civil, civil servants from the Traffic Management Centres, helicopter patrols and personnel in charge of equipment maintenance and the installation of roadside measures) which, among other functions, will be responsible for:
a) Facilitating traffic mobility and fluidity, as well as ensuring Road Safety on the roads.
b) Maintaining road safety conditions for all types of vehicles on roads with sections or areas affected by adverse weather conditions such as snow, ice, fog, rain and wind.
c) To help users in the event of any incident or unforeseen event that may arise during their journey and to monitor the correct behaviour of road users with the human and technical resources available to the organisation: 780 fixed radars (92 of which are stretch radars) and 545 mobile speed cameras, in addition to 13 helicopters, 39 drones, 245 cameras and 15 camouflaged vans to control the use of mobile phones and seat belts.
d) To provide timely information on any incident on the road through traffic news bulletins on the different radio and television stations, on the website www.dgt.es, on Twitter @DGTes and @InformacionDGT and on the 011 telephone number.
e) Intensify speed and alcohol controls as a means of preventing road accidents.
The complete plan can be consulted on the DGT website https://www.dgt.es/conoce-el-estado-del-trafico/recomendaciones-de-trafico/, a document where you can find traffic forecasts, the most unfavourable times for travelling, historical maps, road safety advice and rules, traffic regulation and organisation measures and the traffic operation by Autonomous Community.
Arriving late is better than not arriving at all, even at Christmas time.
In these winter dates, which are also favourable for celebrations, Traffic insists on remembering that drinking alcoholic beverages and driving are incompatible actions. It is also necessary to be prudent on our journeys, especially on short and night-time journeys, and to always be informed about the possible adverse weather conditions that may occur at any time during the winter.
Prudence is essential because, as the DGT’s traditional communication campaign for this time of year reminds us, no matter how important the journey is (and Father Christmas is), “arriving late is better than not arriving at all, even at Christmas”.