Over half a million vehicles return to Barcelona area after Easter break

Some 507,000 vehicles have already returned to the Barcelona area following the long Easter weekend as of Monday at 7:15 pm according to the Catalan Traffic Service (SCT).

This means only 85% of vehicles have made their way back after the bank holidays, and another 93,000 are still expected to return later Monday evening.

The busiest highway has once again been the AP-7, a major artery that runs along the coast, but congestion has not been as significant as on other occasions - last year there were 125km of traffic on Catalan roads on Easter Monday, many on the AP-7. 

The day began with an accident near El Vendrell, in southern Catalonia, causing some traffic, while a damaged truck near Arbúcies, inland from the Costa Brava, also led to a buildup of traffic. 

There has also been some traffic on the A-2, with 5 km of congestion between Collbató and el Bruc, not far from Igualada, and over 5 km between Collbató and Esparraguera, near Montserrat. 

The N-340 was also the site of congestion on Monday morning as there were over 10 km of traffic near la Pobla de Montornès in southern Catalonia. In the early afternoon, the same road saw 2 km of traffic near Castellet i la Gornal south of Barcelona. 

Less traffic thanks to additional measures

The SCT implemented additional measures affecting 200km of highway over the Easter holidays to ensure road safety, which they say brought reduced traffic by 20% on the AP-7.

Only 2 people have died in car crashes over Easter, down from 5 over the same period last year. 

There will be additional lanes between the towns of Montornès and Sant Celoni, north of Barcelona, as well as between Vilafranca and Molins de Rei, south of the Catalan capital until midnight on Monday.

There is also an additional lane on the C-32 between Montgat and Sant Andreu de Llavaneres in the Maresme county coastal area north of Barcelona. 

From 3 pm to 10 pm there will be a 100 km/h speed limit between Martorell and Gelida, west of Barcelona, while trucks will not be allowed on the road from 10 am to 10 pm.